New Delhi: As cricket edges closer to its return to the Olympic stage, a new league in Europe is positioning itself as a catalyst for change. The European T20 Premier League (ETPL) is not just another franchise tournament in an already crowded calendar; it is an attempt to address one of the game’s longest-standing imbalances: exposure and opportunity for European countries.The timing, however, could not be more apt. With T20 cricket set to feature at the Olympics, Europe, home to nearly one-third of ICC member nations, suddenly finds itself at the centre of cricket’s global growth strategy. ETPL aims to leverage that moment by offering elite-level competition across Scotland, the Netherlands and Ireland — markets traditionally underexposed despite their deepening cricket culture.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“I think the timing is perfect,” former Australia captain and two-time World Cup winner Steve Waugh tells TimesofIndia.com.“The spotlight hasn’t been on the countries in Europe, even though one-third of the ICC playing countries are from Europe. So 30 countries are playing here in Europe. This is a huge opportunity for them to break out and to make a name for themselves. For the players of those countries to play alongside legends of the game, our franchise, the Amsterdam Flames, players from Netherlands and other countries who have played alongside Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith and others. I mean, that’s invaluable,” he says.
ETPL owners and investors at the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge
“The Olympics are on the horizon for countries in Europe going forward. They have a realistic chance of doing very well. It has been underutilised, underdeveloped and underexposed for a lot of years. And this really puts a spotlight on cricket in Europe. It’s really taken the global game to Europe to showcase the talents of the players in Europe, but also the players from the rest of the world,” adds Waugh.ETPL is officially sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and partners with Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association. The three franchises already sold are based in Amsterdam, Belfast and Edinburgh, while the remaining three, once sold, will be based in Dublin, Rotterdam and Glasgow. The league is scheduled to be played in the last week of August 2026.Kyle Mills, co-owner of the Edinburgh franchise, echoes Waugh’s sentiments and revealed their marquee player and why ETPL is targeting the Indian audience.“Without question, some of the biggest names in the game are wanting to play in this competition. The people involved, they have integrity. That’s really important, not just from an owner’s perspective and investor’s perspective, but the players know the people who are involved and they all have great integrity.“We have Edinburgh Castle Robbers. Our marquee player is Mitchell Santner, one of the world’s best players and captain of the New Zealand side. Across the world, across all franchises, he’s desperate to be involved in this league.
The six-team European T20 Premier League (ETPL) will run out of Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands and will start in the late week of August.
“We’re going into Scotland, the Netherlands and Ireland, with the best players in the world interacting with associate players. So the development of the game in those regions is the real crown and the jewels of the competition, to be honest. Cricket is a growing sport in that continent. It’s going to be in the Olympics. We have this league at the Olympics next month. So the opportunity for some of the best players in the world to interact with the emerging markets is the pure beauty of the competition,” says Mills.“It’s obviously being broadcast live in India at a prime time of 7pm. It’s being played on a European continent and we’ve got close ties from our franchise to New Zealand, and Steve Waugh’s franchise to Australia. So in essence, it’s going to be a true global competition,” he says.For Abhishek Bachchan, the brainchild behind the ETPL, he shares when he first came up with the idea.“About two years ago is when we started discussing bringing T20 cricket to Europe and ETPL kind of took wings. It’s been something that we’ve been working very hard on and we’re happy because I think we have finally reached the start line with the announcements that we’re going to make today. It’s been in the making for the last two to three years,” he said.When coaxed about whether entering a T20 league was always part of his long-term plan, given his investments as a co-owner in other sports, Bachchan said:“I wouldn’t say it was in the pipeline, it was definitely a desire. Being a cricket fan, you want to do something with cricket. But I’ve said this several times: Three years ago, the family got involved with the ISPL, which is the Indian Street Premier League, which is gully cricket. That was my first foray into trying to see, okay, can I do something with cricket? And it was very rewarding and encouraging and that gave me the impetus and the confidence to get into mainstream cricket. ETPL came about and we’ve been working on it now. But then again, it’s for a market where we feel we can make a difference. We can contribute something, which is Europe. And that’s what excites me,” he adds.Bachchan is careful to distinguish ETPL from ventures driven purely by commercial ambition. “Being a cricket fan, you want to do something with cricket,” he explained. “But one of my wants when I get involved in sport is: can I help? Can I help improve the infrastructure, the ecosystem, or just make a difference?”That question, he believes, had no easy answer in India. “The BCCI does a wonderful job with cricket in India. There is very little I felt I could have contributed to the sport there,” he said. The breakthrough came through involvement in the Indian Street Premier League (ISPL), which offered a first-hand understanding of cricket development beyond the traditional elite pathways. “That gave me the impetus and the confidence to get into mainstream cricket.”Europe, Bachchan felt, was where meaningful impact was possible. “ETPL came about for a market where we feel we can make a difference. We can contribute something, and that’s Europe. That’s what excites me.”
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The Amsterdam franchise will be owned by a consortium led by Australian great Steve Waugh, former World Cup-winning captain, alongside Jamie Dwyer, five-time hockey World Player of the Year and Olympic gold medallist, and Tim Thomas, former CEO of the Centre for Australia-India Relations and a former partner at KPMG Australia.The Edinburgh franchise will be owned by former New Zealand internationals Nathan McCullum, now a high-performance cricket coach, and Kyle Mills, the former New Zealand fast bowler and former ICC No.1 ODI bowler.The Belfast franchise will be owned by Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, one of the world’s leading T20 stars, together with former NRMA Group CEO Rohan Lund, with additional strategic partners to be announced.
