Australia’s two-time ICC Cricket World Cup winner Shane Watson will join Imran Tahir at the Amsterdam Knights while Australian Ben Cutting and Ahmad Shahzad were the early signings for the franchise as the Player Draft for the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam took place at a gala ceremony here at the Heathrow Airport on Friday.
West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph joined an excitingpanel which includes all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe who heads a strong localcontingent for the Knights, which also includes the vastly experienced WesleyBarresi.
Ireland T20 captain Gary Wilson and powerful top orderbatsman Paul Stirling have been joined in an exciting Belfast Titans panel byPakistan’s Shahid Afridi who is set to link up with the Titans havingpreviously represented Ireland as a guest player back in 2006.
Proteas’ batting all-rounder J.P. Duminy, with 81 T20Internationals to his name, is featured alongside a host of local talentincluding the powerful Mark Adair and experienced bowler Boyd Rankin.
Pakistan’s Muhammad Nawaz was the opening selection of thedraft pick proper and the squad has also been bolstered by Englandinternational Luke Wright. Black Caps duo Colin Ingram and Mitch McClenaghanwill also feature.
Pakistan batting sensation Babar Azam, a leading light inthe recent ICC Cricket World Cup, will line up for the Dublin Chiefs alongsideEoin Morgan and a host of Leinster and Ireland internationals.
Amongst the drafted players is big-hitting all-rounder KevinO’Brien who joins in-form batsman Andrew Balbirnie, left-arm spinner GeorgeDockrell and the exciting wicket-keeper/batsman Lorcan Tucker. Pakistan pacebowler Mohammad Amir was the first round pick and was followed by Englandbowler Harry Gurney.
Scotland batsman Kyle Coetzer has signed for the EdinburghRocks whose fans will be assured of some big-hitting up front after therecruitment of Black Caps opening batsman Martin Guptill and the dynamicAustralian Chris Lynn, another star of the T20 circuit. Guptill will be joinedby fellow Black Caps players, all-rounders Corey Anderson and Matt Henry.
GLasgow Giants have been boosted by the recruitment of thehugely respected former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum who is joined byProteas pace bowler Dale Steyn. England all-rounder Ravi Bopara, Pakistan’sUsman Shinwari and the talented Moises Henriques were the early roundselections. In the local player draft, Richie Berrington was the first nameselected and was joined by fellow Scotland international team-mate GeorgeMunsey.
Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and Luke Ronchi will supplement astrong Dutch contingent in the Rotterdam Rhinos panel which includes localtalent Stephan Myburgh and Peter Trego. Pakistan opening batsman Fakhar Zamanand English all-rounder Samit Patel are further positive additions to thesquad.
Morgan joined a host of dignitaries and owners from each ofthe six franchises, including Indian great and one of the Board Members ofleague’s advisory committee Anil Kumble, Pakistan’s Babar Azam, Afghanistanleg-spin star Rashid Khan, England’s Tymal Mills and South African leg-spinstar Imran Tahir, for the tournament which will take place in the Netherlands,Scotland and Ireland from 30th August until 22nd September.
It will be a homecoming of sorts for north Dubliner Morganwith the 32-year-old set to represent the Dublin Chiefs.
EURO T20 SLAM SQUADS
AMSTERDAM KNIGHTS:
Shane Watson*, Hasan Ali, Wesley Barresi, Saad Bin Zafar,Philippe Boissevain, Varun Chopra, Ben Cooper, Ben Cutting, Brandon Glover,Alzarri Joseph, Sikandar Raza, Amad Shahzad, Tony Staal, Imran Tahir**, Roelofvan der Merwe, Paul Van Meekeren, Tobias Visee, Sikander Zulfiqar
Coach: Mark O’Donnell
BELFAST TITANS:
Shahid Afridi*, Mark Adair, J.P. Duminy**, Shane Getkate,Colin Ingram, Muhammad Ilyas, Andrew McBrine, Mitchell McClenaghan, MuhammadNawaz, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Aaron Summers, Greg Thompson, StuartThompson, Gary Wilson, Luke Wright, Craig Young
Coach: Ian Pont
DUBLIN CHIEFS:
Eoin Morgan*, Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam**, Andrew Balbirnie,Corbin Bosch, Dan Christian, Gareth Delany, Robert Frylinck, Harry Gurney,Tyrone Kane, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Kevin O’Brien, Simi Singh, HarryTector, Lorcan Tucker
Coach: Daniel Vettori
EDINBURGH ROCKS:
Martin Guptill*, Corey Anderson, Dylan Budge, Kyle Coetzer,Anton Devcich, Oliver Hairs, Matt Henry, Michael Leask, Chris Lynn**, CalumMacLeod, Gavin Main, Tymal Mills, Adrian Neill, Tabraiz Shamsi, Craig Wallace,Mark Watt
Coach: Mark Ramprakash
GLASGOW GIANTS:
Brendon McCullum*, Qais Ahmad, Richie Berrington, RaviBopara, Scott Cameron, Matthew Cross, Alasdair Evans, Moises Henriques, MichaelJones, Heinrich Klaasen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Usman Shinwari, JJSmuts, Tom Sole, Dale Steyn**, Hamza Tahir
Coach: Lance Klusener
ROTTERDAM RHINOS:
Rashid Khan*, Shaheen Afridi, Anwar Ali, Bas De Leede, ScottEdwards, Vivian Kingma, Fred Klaassen, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, SamitPatel, Luke Ronchi**, Pieter Seelaar, Shane Snater, Peter Trego, HardusViljoen, Fakhar Zaman, Saqib Zulfiqar
Coach: HerschelleGibbs