Wikipedia

EUT20 Belgium

(Redirected from JB Bruges)

The EUT20 Belgium is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Belgium, organised by Destino Legends Sports LLC in partnership with Belgian Cricket Federation.[1][2] Established in 2025, the league was created to professionalize the sport in mainland Europe [3][4] and provide a high-performance platform for local Belgian talent to compete alongside global international stars.[5][6]

EUT20 Belgium
Tournament logo
CountriesBelgium
AdministratorBelgian Cricket Federation
Destino Legends Sports LLC
HeadquartersBrussels, Belgium
FormatTwenty20
First edition2026
Latest edition2026
Next edition2027
Tournament formatSingle round-robin, Playoff league and final
Number of teams5 (6 from 2027)
Current championGhent Gladiators
Most successfulGhent Gladiators (1 title)
Most runsJosh Brown (229)
Most wicketsTristan Luus (10)
TVList of broadcasters
Websiteeu-t20.com

The league features six franchise teams representing major Belgian cities and towns.[7][8] The inaugural season took place in Brussels from 6 to 14 June 2026,[9][10] where Ghent Gladiators defeated Antwerp Anchors by 3 wickets to win the inaugural title. JJ Smit of the Antwerp Anchors was named player of the tournament in the inaugural season.

History

edit

In October 2025, following the success of franchise models globally, Cricket Belgium signed a long-term agreement with Destino Legends Sports LLC to launch a premier franchise competition.[11]

Unlike previous domestic tournaments, EUT20 was designed as a hub for European cricket, utilizing Belgium's central geographic location to attract players from both Full Member and Associate nations.[5] Former England World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan was appointed as the Global Brand Ambassador to provide international credibility and strategic oversight.[12][13]

Cricket in Belgium has historically been an Associate-level sport with a growing grassroots base.[14] The league's primary mission is the (2 - 4 - 4 - 6) development model, which mandates the inclusion of local Belgian players in every starting XI to ensure the long-term growth of the Belgium national cricket team.[15]

Foundation of EUT20 Belgium

edit

In late 2025, the league invited international investors for franchise ownership.[5] Six cities were originally selected based on their sporting infrastructure and local cricket communities: Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent, Leuven, and Liège.[9][3] However, one of the originally planned franchise team from Leuven was not announced by EUT20 Belgium and did not participate in the player draft held on 24 March 2026, which left the inaugural tournament to be played with five teams.[16] The league later announced that a new franchise based in the town of Waterloo, named Royal Belge Waterloo, would join the competition from the 2027 season as the replacement for the vacant sixth slot originally intended for Leuven.

Tournament format

edit

The EUT20 Belgium follows a franchise T20 format:[17]

  • League stage: A single round-robin format in which the five teams play each other once, resulting in a total of 10 matches. After the league stage, the teams placed fourth and fifth play an additional classification match to determine the final participant for the next stage.
  • Playoff league: The top three teams from the league stage, along with the winner of the fourth and fifth classification match, advance to the Playoff league, while the losing team is eliminated. The Playoff league is played in a single round-robin format, in which each team plays the other three once, resulting in a total of 6 matches. The top two teams in the Playoff league points table qualify for the final, while the remaining two teams are eliminated.
  • Final: The top two teams from the Playoff league compete in the final to determine the champion of the tournament.

Player acquisition

edit

Teams acquire players through a centralized player draft. Each 18-member squad must follow strict roster requirements:[5]

  • Domestic: 4 Belgian players (Minimum 2 in the starting XI).[1][8]
  • Associate: 4 players from ICC Associate nations.[5]
  • International: 4 active Full Member international players.[7][18]
  • Veterans: 6 Full Member players who have not played international cricket in the last two years.[1]

Teams

edit

The league features six franchises representing major urban centers and historic municipalities across Belgium.[19][20]

Team Debut Captain Head coach Owner(s) Ref.
Akcel United Brussels 2026 Rilee Rossouw Mark Boucher[21] Akcel Group [22]
Antwerp Anchors Martin Guptill Donovan Miller[23] Anchor Sports & Zaheer Khan [24],[25]
Ghent Gladiators Temba Bavuma Jonathan Trott[26] TraWenture LLC, Haspex Co WLL & Irfan Pathan [27],[28]
JB Bruges Wayne Parnell[29] Shivnarine Chanderpaul[30] Dream Sports [31],[32]
Liège Red Lions Faf du Plessis[33] Herschelle Gibbs[34] Tez Sports & US Consortium [35],[36]
Royal Belge Waterloo 2027 TBA TBA TBA [37]

Finals

edit
Season Final Player of the season
Winner Result Runner-up Venue
2026 Ghent Gladiators
181/7 (19.5 overs)		 Ghent Gladiators won by 3 wickets
Scorecard		 Antwerp Anchors
178/6 (20 overs)		 Stars Arena, Zemst JJ Smit
(Antwerp Anchors)

Performance by team

edit

Seasons

edit
Season
(No. of teams)		 2026
(5)		 2027
(6)
Akcel United Brussels PL TBD
Antwerp Anchors RU TBD
Ghent Gladiators C TBD
JB Bruges PL TBD
Liège Red Lions GS TBD
Royal Belge Waterloo N/a TBD
  • Teams have been listed alphabetically.
  •   C: Champions
  •   RU: Runner-up
  •   PL: Teams that qualified for the play-off league of the competition.
  •   GS: Teams that only played in the group stage and didn’t qualify for the next round of the competition.

All time standings

edit
Teams Appearances Best result Statistics
Total First Latest Played Won Lost Tied+W Tied+L NR Win%
Ghent Gladiators 1 2026 2026 Champions (2026) 8 2 1 0 0 5 66.67%
Antwerp Anchors Runners-up (2026) 8 2 3 1 0 2 50.00%
Akcel United Brussels Playoff league (2026) 7 3 1 0 0 3 75.00%
JB Bruges Playoff league (2026) 7 2 2 0 1 2 40.00%
Liège Red Lions Group Stage (2026) 4 0 2 0 0 2 0.00%

Media and broadcasting

edit

The 2026 season of the EUT20 Belgium was broadcast live on the following channels:[38][39][40]

Country Television Rights Streaming Rights
Nepal Sony Sports
Kantipur Max		 Kantipur Max (YouTube)
India Sony Sports FanCode
Middle East and North Africa None Sportvot
Southeast Asia
New Zealand
United States and Canada Willow TV Willow TV (YouTube)
Rest of the World Sony Sports

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. 1 2 3 "EUT20 Belgium: All You Need To Know About The New European T20 Tournament". Wisden. 13 January 2026. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  2. ↑ "Europe's Biggest Cricket Stage Has Arrived". Antwerp Anchors. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Vince and Hales Sign Up for New EUT20 Belgium League". Antwerp Anchors. 28 February 2026. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
  4. ↑ "New European T20 League Takes Shape". Antwerp Anchors. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Hasaranga, Mathews and van der Dussen among first names registered for new Belgium-based EUT20 franchise league". Associate Chronicles. 13 January 2026. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  6. ↑ "Proteas captain to play in Belgium T20 league". The South African. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Senior Sri Lanka duo follows South Africa star to sign up for Belgium-based European T20 league". Wisden. 13 January 2026. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  8. 1 2 "England Stars Vince and Hales Sign Up for New Belgian T20 League". Crictips. 6 February 2026. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Former No.2 ODI batter signs up for Belgium-based European T20 league". Wisden. 10 January 2026. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  10. ↑ "EUT20 Belgium unveils teams, owners and global stars as Europe's new T20 league targets India". Cricexec. 30 April 2026. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "The BCF Executive Committee (Board of Directors)". Belgian Cricket Federation. 2 November 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  12. ↑ "Eoin Morgan joins EUT20 Belgium as League Ambassador". EUT20 Belgium. 29 October 2025. Retrieved 16 April 2026 – via Instagram.
  13. ↑ "EUT20 Belgium Cricket League: Morgan, More excited for inaugural T20". Asianet News. 29 April 2026. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  14. ↑ "Belgium Cricket Profile". ICC. 26 February 2026. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  15. ↑ "Everything you need to know about the format, rules, and vision behind the EUT20 Belgium Cricket League". EUT20 Belgium. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  16. ↑ Jonhenry Wilson (10 June 2026). "European revolution – Everything you need to know about EUT20 Belgium". Cricket 365. Retrieved 16 June 2026.
  17. ↑ "Presenting the official fixtures of the EUT20 Belgium 2026 — where Europe's finest teams go head-to-head in a battle for glory". EUT20 Belgium. Retrieved 8 April 2026 – via Facebook.
  18. ↑ "Vince & Hales register to play T20 league in Belgium". BBC Sport. 6 February 2026. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  19. ↑ "EUT20 Belgium T20 Cricket: Full List of Teams, Owners & Icon Players - All You Need To Know". myKhel. 29 April 2026. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  20. ↑ "EUT20 Belgium Reveals Teams, Owners, and Global Ambition". Antwerp Anchors. 10 May 2026. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  21. ↑ "Mark Boucher comes in as Head Coach of AKCEL United Brussels. Welcome to the squad". Akcel United Brussels. 22 March 2026. Retrieved 23 March 2026 – via Instagram.
  22. ↑ "Introducing AKCEL United Brussels—the ultimate convergence of Formula motorsports precision and T20 intensity". EUT20 Belgium. Retrieved 18 March 2026 – via Instagram.
  23. ↑ "The Antwerp Anchors welcome Donovan Miller as Head Coach for the inaugural Belgium League". Antwerp Anchors. Retrieved 14 March 2026 – via Instagram.
  24. ↑ "Meet the Antwerp Anchors officially joining EU T20 Belgium, proudly owned by Anchor Sports". EUT20 Belgium. 11 March 2026. Retrieved 12 March 2026 – via Facebook.
  25. ↑ "Zaheer Khan Joins Antwerp Anchors as Co-Owner". Antwerp Anchors. 11 March 2026. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
  26. ↑ "We are proud to welcome Jonathan Trott as the Head Coach of Ghent Gladiators for EUT20". Ghent Gladiators. Retrieved 21 March 2026 – via Instagram.
  27. ↑ "The Ascent of a Giant: Ghent Gladiators and the Evolution of EUT20 Belgium". ANI. 18 April 2026. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  28. ↑ "Irfan Pathan becomes co-owner and brand ambassador of Ghent Gladiators in EUT20 Belgium". Cric Tracker. 23 April 2026. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  29. ↑ "Leading from the front. Inspiring every step of the way | Meet the Captain of JB Bruges". JB Bruges. 5 June 2026. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  30. ↑ "Shiv Chanderpaul to coach JB Bruges for EUT20 Belgium". 103FM Trinidad & Tobago. 103FM. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  31. ↑ "Janakpur Bolts acquire franchise in Belgium's EU T20 League". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  32. ↑ "Janakpur Bolts Go Global: Franchise Ownership in Belgium's EU T20 League". The Cricket Nerd. 4 March 2026. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  33. ↑ "THE CAPTAIN HAS ARRIVED | The Pride of Liège has a new Leader. Faf du Plessis is here to command the crease". Liège Red Lions. 19 March 2026. Retrieved 22 March 2026 – via Instagram.
  34. ↑ "The game knows his brilliance. The world remembers his milestones". Liège Red Lions. Retrieved 13 March 2026 – via Instagram.
  35. ↑ "Roar Begins. Legacy Ignites. Presenting the fierce pride of EUT20 LIEGE RED LIONS". EUT20 Belgium. 1 March 2026. Retrieved 2 March 2026 – via Facebook.
  36. ↑ "EUT20 Valued at USD54M as US Consortium Secures Stake in Liège Red Lions at USD10.8M Benchmark". The Tribune. 20 April 2026. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  37. ↑ "We're delighted to welcome Royal Belge Waterloo as the newest franchise in EUT20 Belgium". EUT20 Belgium. 16 June 2026. Retrieved 16 June 2026 – via Instagram.
  38. ↑ "Watch EUT20 live on Sony Sports Network, FanCode, and exclusively in Nepal on Kantipur Media or be there in person". EUT20 Belgium. 3 June 2026. Retrieved 5 June 2026 – via Instagram.
  39. ↑ "Sony Sports Network brings the excitement of EUT20 Belgium closer to fans, delivering the action straight to your screens". EUT20 Belgium. 4 May 2026. Retrieved 4 June 2026 – via Instagram.
  40. ↑ "EUT20 Belgium is proud to welcome SPORTVOT as an Official Broadcast Partner for the 2026 season". EUT20 Belgium. 4 June 2026. Retrieved 6 June 2026 – via Instagram.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=EUT20_Belgium&oldid=1360203524"