This year’s finals day for the Twenty20 Cup, scheduled for 23 June, will take place at Excelsior ‘20’s Thurlede ground in Schiedam, the KNCB has announced.

Excelsior, who won the competition in 2009, have already reached the semi-finals of this season’s event, along with holders VRA Amsterdam, HCC, and either Hermes-DVS Schiedam or Hoofdklasse side HBS Den Haag.

The two Schiedam teams meet at Sportpark Harga in their final group match this Friday evening, and one possible outcome – which would guarantee that the finals day receives unprecedented support – is that both will go through. If Excelsior win, however, leaving Hermes and HBS level on points, HBS would qualify by virtue of their one-wicket, final-over victory over Hermes on 20 May.

In the other group VRA and HCC are already through, although which of them tops the group is dependent on Friday evening’s match between ACC and HCC at Het Loopveld West.

At the same time that it revealed the venue for this season’s finals day, the KNCB announced that energy firm E.on has agreed to sponsor the competition. This means that it becomes the E.on Twenty20 Cup and that €10,000 will be on offer, with half going to the winners, €2500 for the losing finalists, and €1250 for each of the losing semi-finalists.

E.on is also the main sponsor of cricket at Excelsior. In addition to their involvement, the Man of the Match awards at the finals day will be sponsored by Notts Sport, the makers of artificial surfaces for sporting events, including the Nottsweave pitches which are widely used on Dutch cricket grounds.

‘We are extremely pleased that E.on will be the sponsor of the finals day,’ KNCB chief executive Richard Cox said this week.

‘Their relationship with Dutch cricket has been established through their support of the Excelsior club, and now they are moving up a step by sponsoring a major national event in an extremely positive way.’

Cox added that it was fitting that Excelsior would be hosting the event, which would again focus attention on the shortest form of the game.

‘A number of very talented players from some well-known teams will be taking part, and we wish them great success.’

The Bond’s CEO also paid tribute to the contribution made by Notts Sport to Dutch cricket over the past decade, largely through its offering its pitches to clubs at a discounted rate.

‘It’s great that they are now giving us the additional support of providing the Man of the Match awards for the Twenty20 Cup,’he said, ‘and we hope that this will ensure that their products and services are even better known in this country.’

The finals day will thus return to Schiedam where the inaugural event in 2007 concluded, at Hermes’ Sportpark Harga complex. In the four seasons since it has been held at HCC’s Diepput ground in Den Haag.

The organisers will be hoping that bringing the day forward into June will yield them better weather – last year’s finals day, like two of its predecessors, was badly disrupted by rain.

The schedule for the day is:
10:00: Winner Group A v Runner-up Group B
13:30: Winner Group B v Runner-up Group A
17:00: Final