‘ETPL is a pathway for teams to reach Olympics’: Jonty Rhodes

Faf du Plessis. Pic/Shadab Khan; (right) Jonty Rhodes. Pic/Ashish Raje

South Africa legend Jonty Rhodes and former captain Faf du Plessis, who are co-owners of the Rotterdam franchise in the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) along with wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen, believe that Europe's first ICC-sanctioned T20 league will work wonders for the development of cricket in the continent, create a new pathway to the Olympics and show big impact at the 2030 T20 World Cup.

The ETPL's inaugural season (August 26 to September 20) will feature 33 matches across six cities - Glasgow, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, and Rotterdam.

Rhodes, 56, insisted that the league will nurture interest in Europe with the Olympics in mind. "The 2030 T20 World Cup will be in the UK, and it will be a big focus on Europe because Ireland and Scotland will be hosting matches as well. So, that's going to be really fascinating, and that's where you will see the impact. The upcoming Olympics [LA 2028] maybe not, but you can start showing countries that haven't played cricket in a big way in the past that this is a pathway to the Olympics because the Olympics is a big thing in Europe," Rhodes told mid-day during a virtual interaction on Thursday.

Du Plessis, 41, who will also lead the Rotterdam team on field, said the league will create more international competition. "All of us are excited just following the last T20 World Cup in India, where the associate nations played incredibly well. I find myself on many occasions supporting Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland. You want to see them do well. You want to see the game of cricket go everywhere in the world. You don't want one or two teams being on top. What leagues like this does is it's an opportunity to get better and I promise you that it will definitely improve all of the systems," Du Plessis said.

6
No. of teams competing in ETPL