New Delhi: Former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes has seen European cricket from the inside, including coaching Sweden. Now, as co-owner of the Rotterdam franchise in the European T20 Premier League (ETPL), the legendary fielding icon said he is finally positioned to convert everything he learned into a lasting impact and make a difference on the continent through the competition.
Apart from Rhodes, fellow South Africans Faf du Plessis, who will also captain the Rotterdam side in the inaugural season, and Heinrich Klaasen, are also on board as co-owners of the Rotterdam franchise. "Actually, I lived in Sweden for two and a half years during the pandemic, during the lockdown, because Sweden didn't have a lockdown.
“My wife and I, with the kids, shifted across to Sweden, and I coached the national team there. I was really involved, not just in the Nordics, because obviously we sort of were one, two levels below where I'm currently looking now. But I always had a keen eye focused on Germany, France, and Italy, which were the next level above Sweden.
“We also had a close relationship with the Dutch national setup, because they were very supportive of us in the Nordics. Because I think the Netherlands cricket board had been well supported by the English cricket board, so the Netherlands understood the importance of having a bigger brother in European cricket, and they took that responsibility quite well," Rhodes told IANS in an exclusive conversation on Thursday, facilitated by ETPL.
The time in Sweden gave Rhodes more than just coaching experience -- it gave him a conviction that European cricketers, long starved of exposure to elite players and high-level infrastructure, were hungry for precisely the kind of investment the ETPL has been designed to deliver. When the opportunity to enter ETPL as an owner rather than a coach arrived, Rhodes seized it without hesitation.
"So, one of the co-owners, Madhukar Shree, who works on the commercial side in T20 cricket, and worked in tennis on the IP side, has always been talking about it. Like, 'If we get an opportunity to get in as co-owners as opposed to employees, let's take it.' When the European T20 Premier League came around, we were very excited because I've seen the difference when I was in Sweden.
“I only worked with the national team for about a year and a half and saw how eager and keen and how grateful they were for an international player to come and spend time and give, just keep giving, these players have lapped it up. So from that perspective, I jumped in straight away.
“I mean, I've retired from coaching, I've obviously long retired as a player, but this will be the first time I've ever had an opportunity to be a co-owner in franchise-level cricket. That excites me because on a couple of points, I can make a difference in Europe, and through the ETPL, we want to ensure that the platform that they already have, the existing platform with the existing local people playing cricket in Europe, in the Netherlands, Ireland, and Scotland.
“We want to grow that platform and base by bringing in great players to play at the ETPL, and great coaches, but also ensuring that it's not just a four-week window. The way to do that, we've kind of structured our franchise with a very South African feel because then with the hemispheres, we can still introduce some of the Rotterdam players to cricket practice, and club cricket in South Africa to ensure that they get this sort of exposure all year round and not just in the four weeks of the ETPL," he added. IANS