European dream: ETPL looks to redraw cricket’s map

There’s more money in cricket than ever before, but there are fewer opportunities and pathways where they are needed most. It sounds absurd, but the reality is that cricket’s franchise dollars are concentrated in the Indian Premier League (IPL); its rupees lie with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), thanks to the Indian team’s enormous following; and its commercial alliances are limited to England and Australia.

While those who have cricketing currency are rapidly multiplying their piles with little innovation or effort, the geographies and stakeholders that need it most are scrambling to survive. The West Indies can barely organise domestic fixtures; Sri Lanka’s gorgeous Test grounds lie vacant for much of the year because playing the longest format costs money they don’t have. New Zealand’s players have to check with their franchise before committing to a series for their country.

Cricket has been loath to admit that it is a colonial sport. Its international footprint is a subset of the Commonwealth, and attempts to reach expatriates in North America or the population of China have proven futile. A glaring opportunity has existed in continental Europe, but it has been unattractive to the powers that be because they have never needed the votes of the Irish, the Scottish or the Dutch at the global boardroom table.


In 2019, the first private foray to fill this gap emerged with the Euro Slam T20, but the Covid-19 pandemic ensured the event was a non-starter. In 2025, when the European T20 Premier League stepped in, they realised that much more work was needed before they could put boots on the ground.

“We knew you’re not going to get very many chances at doing this for the first time. And we wanted to do it right,” Abhishek Bachchan, co-founder of ETPL, told ET Sport. “Initially, we felt we weren’t entirely ready. I’m very happy that I have like-minded cofounders who believe that the planning and preparation is the majority of a start.”

The cricket boards of Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands were among those understanding partners, and it’s a huge credit to them that they took this leap of faith, given how often the promise of Indian money has ended up being empty. When the six franchises sold, and teams were fronted by the likes of Rahul Dravid and Steve Waugh, credibility stopped being an issue.

Ultimately, though, the ETPL will live or die by the quality of cricket it produces. To test the depth of those waters, listen to George Dockrell of the Dublin Guardians. Dockrell has won games for Ireland with ball and bat, has played 134 ODIs and 159 T20Is on top of two Tests.

“The challenge of growing cricket in places such as Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands — the heart of cricket in Europe — is that while you get opportunities in the World Cup, there’s a long time between opportunities,” he says.

“The only real demand from players in these countries has been for more fixtures against better opposition.” Dockrell is 34 now, but when he was 17, he had to miss an ODI against Australia to sit a school exam. A year later, he trapped Sachin Tendulkar lbw in a World Cup game. Ireland beat better teams, including the old frenemy England, but they were still left waiting for scraps in terms of fixtures.

Explaining why the ETPL could be a game-changer for the region, Dockrell says, “For all those Irish kids who are watching, just seeing that this is something that they can do in the future gives them something that they can work towards.”

Scott Edwards of Amsterdam Flames understands multi-country co-operation, the basis of the ETPL, better than most. He was born in Tonga, raised in Australia and went on to captain the Netherlands. “At the ETPL you play with and against the best in the world for a set period. In a World Cup, you get maybe four games, and if you don’t make it to the next round, that’s it,” he says. “The security element of knowing the ETPL is there makes cricket a viable thing to pursue for youngsters.”

The Netherlands can offer full-time contracts to only eight players, not even enough to field one team. But ETPL contracts can allow future players space to pursue a pathway rather than merely dream. “I’ve loved playing for the Netherlands. Every game you play is highly consequent I a l because there’s so much riding on it,” says Edwards.

When the Indian cricket team loses, it shrugs and moves on; every loss by the Netherlands sets cricket in the country back.

The ETPL can ease some of this pressure. But as a project, it can be neither vanity nor charity, and, it appears that the league owners recognise this. Ask Bachchan what success looks like to him, and he takes a pause. “This is a tough question with no simple answer. Being in the business of sport, you have to be honest, true and faithful to both those words, business and sport. Neither can do without the other,” he says.

“At the heart of it has to be passion, and the sport. Without that as your foundation, the business won’t matter. The business has to come next, not second, but next. When you cannot infuse enough funds into a quality competitive product, you’re fighting a losing battle. The important thing is that you get the sport right. Make sure it’s competitive, world-class and aspirational. And the business has to make sense: nobody’s here to burn very large holes in their pocket. Success is measured in terms of viewership because, without fans and viewership, your sport is nothing. Financial performance is important.”

From being utterly impoverished, cricket has grown into a megabusiness. It learnt that financial performance is important, but somewhere along the way it became the only important thing. The golden goose is prolific, but if the game does not want to put all its eggs in one basket, it’s vital that leagues such as the ETPL thrive.