Hard on the heels of the recent ICC World Twenty20 tournament, in which the Dutch distinguished themselves by beating England in the opening match, comes a new event in the European calendar: the Continental Championships.

Initiated by the KNCB, the new tournament will be held at Excelsior 20’s Thurlede complex from 2 to 4 July, and it will involve four teams, with Belgium, France and Germany joining with Netherlands A.

The competition will see two South African-born batsmen, Wesley Barresi and Stephan Myburgh – both of whom have first-class experience in their country of origin – playing for The Netherlands for the first time, and Roland Lefebvre’s twelve-man squad will include three other debutants in seamer Berend Westdijk, left-arm spinner Thijs van Schelven and 17-year-old batsman-leg spinner Vinoo Tewarie.

The side will be led by national team vice-captain Peter Borren, and will also include three more players with full international experience, Geert Maarten Mol, Maurits Jonkman and Lesley Stokkers; two who played in last year’s European A championships in Stijn Allema and Jeroen Brand, and Tim Gruijters, who was called up into the World Twenty20 squad when Ruud Nijman succumbed to injury.

One point of interest for the Schiedam tournament will be the possible appearance in Belgian colours of former Zimbabwean fast bowler Brighton Watambwa, who played the last of his six Tests in February 2002. Now 32, Watambwa played for his adopted country in a recent triangular competition in Germany.

There will be a series of practice matches on Thursday evening, and the schedule for the tournament proper is as follows:

Friday, 3 July, 13:00
Netherlands A v France (field 1)
Germany v Belgium (field 2)

Friday, 3 July, 17:00
France v Belgium (field 1)
Netherlands A v Germany (field 2)

Saturday, 4 July, 10:00
Germany v France (field 1)
Netherlands A v Belgium (field 2)

Saturday, 4 July, 14:00
Final, 1st v 2nd (field 1)
3rd – 4th play-off (field 2)