The 2026 European T20 Premier League (also known as the 2026 ETPL) was the inaugural season of the European T20 Premier League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league founded by a group of Indian investors around Abhishek Bachchan, in partnership with the cricket boards of Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The tournament was played from 26 August to 20 September 2026.
In the final, Edinburgh Castle Rockers defeated Belfast Wolves by 7 wickets to win the inaugural title.
Background The tournament was launched as a joint franchise league for Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, with six city-based teams participating. The inaugural season was originally planned for 2025, but postponed to 2026 following investment delays and shifting commercial priorities, including investor focus on other franchise competitions such as The Hundred.
The inaugural season started on 26 August, with the Final scheduled for Sunday, 20 September 2026. The competition features 30 league-stage matches, followed by a Qualifier and the Final.
On Playoffs, Belfast Wolves defeated Amsterdam Flames by 7 wickets in the Qualifier. The inaugural ETPL season reaches its climax on 20th September as Edinburgh Castle Rockers take on Belfast Wolves in the final at Malahide.
Tournament format The ETPL is played in a double round-robin format, with each of the six franchises playing every other team twice, resulting in 30 league-stage matches. At the end of the league stage, the team finishing first in the points table qualifies directly for the Final. The teams finishing second and third contest the Qualifier, with the winner advancing to the Final to face the table-toppers.
Schedule The tournament started on 26 August, with Rotterdam Dockers facing Amsterdam Flames in Voorburg. Matches in Voorburg continue until 6 September before the tournament moves to Malahide on 9 September. The league stage concludes on 17 September, followed by the Qualifier on 19 September and the Final on 20 September.
Squad composition Each team is allowed to build a squad of 17 players. Each ETPL squad consists of players from five categories: pre-signed overseas players, affiliated local players, European Associate players, Global Associate players, and local players selected through the ETPL Draft. Local Direct Signings: 2 Local Draft Picks: 6 Local Core Total: Minimum 8 local players from the Netherlands, Scotland, and Ireland combined European Associate Players: Minimum 1 player (excluding the Netherlands and Scotland) Global Associate Players: Minimum 1 and maximum 2 players Full Member Overseas Players: Maximum 7 players (excluding Ireland).
Playing XI Rules Local Players: Minimum 5 local players from the Netherlands, Scotland, or Ireland. Overseas: Maximum 4 overseas players from Test-playing nations (excluding Ireland). Associate: 2 associate players (any combination of Global Associate Players or European Associate Players)
Teams
Team City Captain Head coach Amsterdam Flames Amsterdam Scott Edwards Ryan Cook Dublin Guardians Dublin Ravichandran Ashwin Vikram Rathour Edinburgh Castle Rockers Edinburgh Mitchell Santner James Foster Glasgow Cosmic Glasgow George Munsey Matthew Hayden Belfast Wolves Belfast Glenn MaxwellKevin O'Brien Rotterdam Dockers Rotterdam Faf du Plessis Adrian Birrell
Venues All matches of the inaugural season will be played at Sportpark Westvliet in Voorburg, Netherlands, and Malahide Cricket Ground in Malahide, Ireland.
Voorburg Malahide Sportpark Westvliet Malahide Cricket Ground Capacity: 1,000 Capacity: 11,500 First 17 matches Second 13 matches and Play-offs
Squads
Amsterdam Flames Dublin Guardians Edinburgh Castle Rockers Glasgow Cosmic Belfast Wolves Rotterdam Dockers Scott Edwards (c, wk) Mitchell Marsh (c) Michael Bracewell Curtis Campher Tim David Bas de Leede Aryan Dutt Richard Gleeson Ali Hassan Kyle Klein Jordan Neill Max O'Dowd David Payne Tim Pringle Ajinkya Rahane Yuvraj Samra Steve Smith Dipendra Singh Airee Ravichandran Ashwin (c) Ben Calitz (wk) Noah Croes George Dockrell Chris Greaves Peter Hatzoglou Matt Hollard Sanjay Krishnamurthi Josh Little Daryl Mitchell Vijay Shankar Harmeet Singh Harry Tector James Vince Muhammad Waseem Chris Wood Craig Young Mitchell Santner (c) Ross Adair Trent Boult Tom Bruce Tom Curran Gareth Delany Andries Gous (wk) Jack Jarvis Shadab Khan Finlay McCreath Brandon McMullen Safyaan Sharif JJ Smuts Sean Solia Khuzaima Tanveer Charlie Tear (wk) Mark Watt George Munsey (c) Finn Allen Richie Berrington Matthew Cross (wk) Brad Currie Oliver Davidson Gerhard Erasmus Moises Henriques Duan Jansen Ali Khan Michael Leask Liam Livingstone Keshav Maharaj Christopher McBride Kamindu Mendis Lungi Ngidi Josh Philippe (wk) Jason Roy Paul van Meekeren Glenn Maxwell (c) Mark Adair Mark Chapman Devon Conway Gavin Hoey Matthew Humphreys Zainullah Ihsan Chris Jordan Crishan Kalugamage Fred Klaassen Harry Manenti David Miller Saurabh Netravalkar Alex Roy Paul Stirling Tim Tector Lorcan Tucker (wk) Faf du Plessis (c) Jasper Davidson Donovan Ferreira (wk) Heinrich Klaasen (wk) Ryan Klein Sandeep Lamichhane Michael Levitt Ben Manenti Ben McDermott Colin Munro Jai Moondra Anrich Nortje Mitchell Owen Shubham Ranjane Roelof van der Merwe Logan van Beek Vikramjit Singh David Wiese Saqib Zulfiqar
Mitchell Marsh was pulled out to prioritise Australia's upcoming white-ball series against Zimbabwe and South Africa. Shadab Khan was pulled out. Donovan Ferreira was pulled out due to injury. Mitchell Owen was pulled out.
Standings Points table
Match summary
League stage The fixtures for the inaugural season were announced on 28 July 2026 and are split in two legs: the first 17 matches will be played at Sportpark Westvliet in Voorburg, Netherlands, and the second 13 matches at the Malahide Cricket Ground in Malahide, Ireland.
Round 1 (Voorburg)
Round 2 (Malahide)
Playoffs Bracket
Qualifier
Final
Statistics Most Runs +RunsPlayerTeam50/1004's6's 353 Faf du Plessis Rotterdam Dockers 8 141.20 83* 58.83 4/0 33 11 279 Brandon McMullen Edinburgh Castle Rockers 7 157.62 82* 55.80 2/0 23 13 271 Mark Chapman Belfast Wolves 9 166.25 71* 33.87 3/0 20 17 264 James Vince Dublin Guardians 7 145.05 95* 44.00 2/0 28 10 257 Bas de Leede Amsterdam Flames 7 137.43 75 64.25 2/0 27 6Source: Cricinfo Updated: 14 September 2026
Most wickets +WicketsPlayerTeam 19 Anrich Nortje Rotterdam Dockers 8 6.40 5/11 16 David Wiese Rotterdam Dockers 8 7.21 3/18 14 Michael Bracewell Amsterdam Flames 6 6.20 5/12 Trent Boult Edinburgh Castle Rockers 7 6.64 5/24 12 Tom Curran Edinburgh Castle Rockers 6 6.37 4/20Source: Cricinfo Updated: 14 September 2026
Broadcasting The league will be broadcast live on the following channels.
Region(s)/countries Television rights Streaming rights Indian subcontinent Star Sports JioHotstar United Kingdom TNT Sports HBO Max Ireland Australia Foxtel Kayo Sports Caribbean Rush Sports Rush Live & Louder United States Willow Cricbuzz Canada Middle East and North Africa Southeast Asia South Africa Olympic Channel New Zealand Netherlands
See also European T20 Premier League Cricket Scotland Cricket Ireland Royal Dutch Cricket Association
References
External links
2026 European T20 Premier League at Cricinfo