Cricket’s newest franchise competition, the European T20 Premier League (ETPL), has attracted high-profile owners including former Australia captain Steve Waugh, Olympic hockey great Jamie Dwyer and Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, as the ICC-approved league prepares to launch in August 2026.
The Amsterdam franchise in the six-team league will be co-owned by Waugh, Dwyer and business leader Tim Thomas, officials said, as part of broader efforts to expand the game across mainland Europe. The ETPL, backed by the cricket boards of Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, aims to foster professional T20 cricket in a region where the sport has historically had limited reach.
Abhishek Bachchan is among the co-founders of the league, lending celebrity backing and strategic vision to the project that seeks to build a sustainable T20 ecosystem in Europe. The league is scheduled to feature matches in cities including Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Belfast, with the inaugural season slated to begin in late summer.
The news has injected fresh momentum into efforts to grow franchise cricket beyond traditional strongholds, with organizers highlighting the inclusion of local European players alongside global stars as a key development objective. (Newswire)