FanCode ECS Sweden Stockholm provides an opportunity for ten teams to showcase their skills, contesting 48 games over 12 days. Every game will be live streamed worldwide on the European Cricket Network and on FanCode - a multi-sport aggregator platform, from the house of Dream Sports for the Indian Sub-Continent.
After the group stage of Fancode ECS Sweden Stockholm, Wynand Boshoff from Djurgardens IF is the highest run-scorer, with 219 runs at an average of 43.80. The hard-hitting opening batsman and wicketkeeper also boasts a strike-rate of 173.8 and has hit three thirties in the tournament, one of which was turned into a half-century.
DIF's captain and batting mainstay has an interesting background story. Hailing from South Africa, Boshoff's entry into ECS was by chance.
"My girlfriend and I were looking for a new adventure away from South Africa," Boshoff tells the European Cricket Network. "Doing research into the EU countries, we narrowed it down to Sweden and The Netherlands. After some more research we decided on Sweden. From what we had read online in our research, we thought that the quality of life, nature and work-life balance Sweden provided, that it was a great choice."
Boshoff had picked up a bat by 18 months in his native South Africa, and cricket was ingrained into him since his early childhood. However, for three years in Sweden, Wynand did not play the game he loved.
A chance meeting with Richie Robbins, now a teammate in the ECS, at a parkrun event redirected him back to the sport.
"He [Robbins] then later started recruiting some players to join his Last Man Stands (LMS) team in the new league. At first I decided to be a stand by player as I was more focused on running at the time. After the first warm-up match, I asked if I could be a regular. I then had a chat after one of these matches with another team member, Shahzeb Choudhry, and he mentioned the club and also that there is this televised T10 tournament starting and they need some players. I immediately became a member of the club so that I could register for ECS," Boshoff recalls.
Things did not immediately fall in place for Boshoff, but his talent was too hard to ignore.
"As I was a new member, I started only being the wicket keeper and batted very low. I later got an opportunity to bat higher up and then became a regular top order batsman for the team. This year I was given the opportunity to be captain of the team as well. Last year in T20 I would come in with just more than 10 overs left, so the game suited my style of batting, but I was still a little bit rusty after 10 years break from cricket, so I wasn't as explosive as before."
Boshoff worked on his batting in the winter and honed his skills to be more aggressive up front. That seems to be working so far as he notched up a maiden fifty at Fancode ECS Sweden Stockholm.
A constant cheerleader, Wynand is a vocal captain, opening bat and an integral part of Djurgardens IF.
"The biggest contribution I can make is to keep up the spirits of the team by being loud and energetic," he says.
Despite a golden duck in the quarter finals, DIF made it through safely to the Fancode ECS Sweden Stockholm semifinals, and there's much more to come from this terrific top-order batsman and captain.
Tune into the live action from Stockholm from Monday to Saturday from 0700 GMT * 0900 CEST * 1230 IST *
