EC Roundup – 03 August 2025 – European U19 Qualifiers Underway

Welcome to this week’s Emerging Cricket Roundup, condensing all the major news into one easy-to-digest place. In this week’s wrap:

Headlines

European U19 Qualifiers underway

Estonia host double header series

European U19 Qualifiers underway

Qualification for next year’s U19 Cricket World Cup has begun in Europe with six teams vying for one place in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Scotland and the Netherlands have made strong starts, each unbeaten after three games each. Jersey, Sweden and Denmark each have 1 win after three games with Guernsey yet to win.

Netherlands have made light work of all three opposition so far, chasing a DLS target of 72 against Guernsey by 9 wickets, dismissing Denmark for 78 and then Jersey for 141. Opener Cedric de Lange has starred in all three chases, amassing 149 runs against one dismissal.

Scotland have been more laboured in their three wins, first chasing 163 against Sweden to win by 8 wickets, and then 220 against Jersey to win by 4. Batting first against Guernsey, they set 280/8 before bowling out the opposition for 198. 126 runs for top-order bat Manu Saraswat, and 7 wickets for Finlay Jones lead the Young Saltires

Scotland and Netherlands meet on Wednesday in what will be a deciding match at Forfarshire CC in Dundee, with the winner advancing to next year’s World Cup.

Estonia host double header series

Men’s and Women’s T20I action has been taking place in Tallinn, as Estonia played host to Gibraltar Women and Switzerland Men this weekend, each for a three-match series.

The women’s series started with a win for the hosts, with Estonia successfully defending 94/6 to win by 26 runs. The visitors hit back in the second game, chasing an identical total with 20 balls to spare to level the series.

It came down to the final game on Sunday, with the visitors batting first and setting 116/4 with 30s from Nikki Caruana and Noelle Laguea. The total proved to be enough, and Estonia were only able to make 82 in reply, giving Gibraltar a 2-1 victory.

Switzerland dominated the men’s series, taking a 3-0 win. Batting first in the first T20I, Switzerland raised 162/8 through a team effort, before bowling Estonia out for 90. The hosts fared better in the second match; chasing 157/6, Estonia fell short at 142 all out, running out of wickets with 9 balls to spare. The final match was a comfortable victory for the Swiss, setting 235/6 to win by 41 runs.

Coming Up

The Men’s U19 qualifiers in Europe complete on Wednesday. Starting Thursday, Croatia host Cyprus for a four match series, whilst the Viking Cup begins in Stockholm. Sweden are joined by Austria, France, and Norway for an 8-match tournament which ends on Sunday.