ROTTERDAM, 12 May 2026 – Rotterdam is getting its own cricket franchise in the European T20 Premier League, Europe’s first ICC-sanctioned T20 franchise league. The new competition starts in 2026 and brings Rotterdam into a six-city tournament alongside Amsterdam, Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The Rotterdam team is backed by major names from international cricket. South African cricketers Jonty Rhodes, Faf du Plessis and Heinrich Klaasen have formed a consortium to acquire the Rotterdam franchise, with Indian businessman Madhukar Shree joining as managing partner.
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Rotterdam joins European cricket
The European T20 Premier League, or ETPL, is being developed with Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB). The league is set up as a city-based franchise competition, following the model that has made T20 cricket a major commercial force in countries such as India, Australia and South Africa.
For Rotterdam, the arrival of a franchise adds the city to a fast-growing sports market with large audiences in India, South Africa, the United Kingdom and other cricket-following countries. It also puts our city next to Amsterdam as one of the Dutch anchors in the new competition.
South African stars lead team
Faf du Plessis will not only co-own the Rotterdam franchise, but also captain the side in the inaugural season. He brings years of experience from international cricket and franchise leagues around the world. (KNCB)
Jonty Rhodes and Heinrich Klaasen add further profile. Rhodes is widely known as one of cricket’s great fielders, while Klaasen is an active South African international with a strong reputation in the T20 format. Together, the three give Rotterdam immediate name recognition in the global cricket community.
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League starts in late summer
The inaugural ETPL season is scheduled from 26 August to 20 September 2026. According to KNCB, the competition will feature 33 matches across six city-based franchises: Glasgow, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast and Rotterdam.
The league has already attracted several familiar cricket names. Reuters reports that former India captain Rahul Dravid is involved with the Dublin franchise, Chris Gayle co-owns Glasgow, Glenn Maxwell is connected to Belfast, Steve Waugh is part of the Amsterdam ownership group, while Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills are behind Edinburgh.
Cricket builds local links
The Rotterdam franchise is not being presented as only an international sports project. The organisation says Team Rotterdam wants to create local impact by connecting sport, business, international communities and the city’s identity as a port and trading hub.
That makes the choice of Rotterdam easy to understand. This is a city built on movement, migration, trade and ambition, so a sport with strong roots in South Asia, Southern Africa, the UK and the Caribbean fits more naturally here than some people might expect.
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Delegation visits Rotterdam
On Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 May, a delegation is visiting sporting and business locations across Rotterdam. The programme includes a photo moment in the city, meetings with Rotterdam sports organisations, a gathering with entrepreneurs, a workshop for children at VOC and an exclusive B2B event.
VOC, one of the best-known cricket clubs in the Rotterdam region, gives the visit a local sporting base. The children’s workshop also points to one of the more interesting parts of this story: whether an international franchise can help grow cricket among young people in and around Rotterdam.
KNCB sees growth potential
KNCB chief executive Huib van Walsem sees the Rotterdam ownership group as a positive development for Dutch cricket. He says the involvement of experienced cricket figures can help attract competitive cricket and quality talent to the region.
The Dutch cricket association also sees a possible link with grassroots development and clearer pathways for young players. That local pathway will matter if the Rotterdam franchise is to become more than a name on an international fixture list.
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Rotterdam gains global visibility
The arrival of the Rotterdam cricket franchise gives the city another international sports story, but this one is slightly different from the usual football-first conversation. Cricket may still be niche in much of the Netherlands, but globally it has a massive audience and T20 is the format built for speed, entertainment and broadcast appeal.
For Rotterdam, the question now is what the franchise becomes locally. If Team Rotterdam can connect international ownership, local clubs, young players and the city’s business community, this could become a useful bridge between Rotterdam and cricket markets far beyond the Netherlands. Not bad for a sport some Rotterdammers still need explained over coffee.
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