Mccullum and Guptill to star for Scots sides in new T20 tournament
● Big names heading for Edinburgh for inaugural Euro T20 Slam competition
New Zealand opening batsman Martin Guptill and Australian big-hitter Chris Lynn will represent the Edinburgh Rocks while former Black Caps skipper Brendon Mccullum and South African fast bowler Dale Steyn will play for Glasgow Giants in cricket’s Euro T20 Slam later this year.
England all-rounder Ravi Bopara will wear Glasgow’s colours along with Scotland regulars Matthew Cross, Richie Berrington, Alasdair Evans and George Munsey.
Guptill and Lynn will be joined at Rocks by Scottish internationalists Michael Leask, Mark Watt, Callum Mcleod and Kyle Coetzer, while Aghanistan’s 17-year-old unorthodox left-arm spinner Waqar Salamkheil will also turn out for the Capital side.
England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan was named the icon player for his hometown team, Dublin Chiefs, and is joined by leading batsman Babar Azam.
At the player draft, hosted in London by former England bowler Darren Gough, the Dublin side also selected Pakistani bowler Mohammad Amir and former England leftarmer Harry Gurney in the first two rounds, and look like early favourites.
Each participating team in the newest Twenty20 competition on the global cricket circuit has been allocated one “icon” player and one “marquee” player, along with five additional international players and nine local players.
Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin, and the other three sides – Belfast Titans, Amsterdam Knights and Rotterdam Rhinos – will compete over 33 games from 30 August to 22 September.
The round-robin format will see the teams play each other in three rounds, the first at Amstelveen in Amsterdam from 30 August to 5 September. Edinburgh’s Grange will host the second round from 6-12 September with the final set of matches at Malahide Cricket Club near Dublin.
The semi-finals and final will also be in Malahide.
The Knights’ icon/marquee pairing is Australian allrounder Shane Watson and South Africa spinner Imran Tahir, while Rotterdam have been allocated Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan, and wicket-keeper Luke Ronchi, who has represented both Australia and New Zealand.
Belfast’s star players are Pakistan’s legendary all-rounder Shahid “Boom Boom” Afridi and former South Africa Twenty20 vice-captain JP Duminy.
Financed by Indian investors, the icon/marquee duos cost £108,000 and £92,000 respectively.
Each team will comprise 16 to 18 players, with up to seven overseas stars, but is limited to a maximum of five in a matchday squad. The cheapest overseas star will get £16,000 for playing in the tournament, while local players are priced in three categories: £28,000, £16,00 and £8,000.