England’s last-gasp win provided an incredible climax to the 2019 Cricket World Cup and a new event is set to make a similar global impact, with the European Cricket League (ECL) expected to attract a major worldwide audience for its inaugural staging in Spain this month.
England’s last-gasp win provided an incredible climax to the 2019 Cricket World Cup and a new event is set to make a similar global impact, with the European Cricket League (ECL) expected to attract a major worldwide audience for its inaugural staging in Spain this month.
Billed as cricket’s equivalent to football’s showpiece UEFA Champions League competition, ECL19 will be held for the first time at the prestigious La Manga Club from July 29-31, with the domestic champions of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia and Spain competing for the chance to be crowned as continental Europe club cricket’s ‘Kings of Europe’.
Played over 17 matches in a T10 format, interest in the competition is set to be massive, with all the games being televised live in Europe, Asia, North America and Australasia across a combination of broadcast, digital and social channels, including live streams from the newly-launched European Cricket Network at www.ecn.cricket.
Broadcast coverage will be shown in countries including the UK, Australia, India, Middle East, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, USA, Canada and the Caribbean.
“Spain’s weather is perfect for year round cricket, and La Manga Club’s facilities and proximity to the beach makes it an awesome destination for cricket fans and holiday makers,” said Daniel Weston, founder of the ECL.
“Featuring southern Europe's best cricket facilities, the resort is the perfect destination for cricket fans and champion clubs to combine world-class cricket and entertainment in equal measure.
“There has never been a European-wide league of this nature and it’s our desire to make the ECL the flagship competition in continental Europe. The team behind the league has vast experience of organising and promoting events of this nature to a global broadcast audience, and we can’t wait to get started.”
ECL 19 will feature sides from Dreux (France), Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Svanholm (Denmark), Bremen (Germany), St. Petersburg (Russia), Brescia (Italy) and Cluj (Romania), with players from 18 different nations taking part from all over Europe as well as more traditional cricket-playing nations.
Teams will be split into two groups of four with matches being played on a round-robin basis on La Manga Club’s two cricket ovals, with the top two from each progressing to contest the semi-finals and final.
The first league – which is free to watch for supporters and guests staying at the resort – will be limited to eight champion clubs from official ICC member federations, but event organisers plan to increase the number of invited teams in the coming years.
