Along the lines of the Asia Cup, the Euro Nations Cup could be launched as early as next year. Cricket Ireland has been working very hard to that end.
If they succeed, a T20 tournament can be held in 2027 involving teams like England, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands and Italy. In the recently concluded T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, they all participated, with England going the farthest, to the semifinals.
Cricket Ireland chair Brian MacNeice, at the forefront of the Euro Nations Cup idea, shed more light on the matter. “I’ve had this on the table for discussion with various stakeholders for quite some time. It’s something that I’m very passionate about and that I fundamentally believe in.
“The conversations have now developed and evolved to a point that I’m much more confident that it is going to happen… There’s multiple stakeholders that will be part of that in due course, but I would anticipate that it will kick off in the summer of ’27, and the precise format and detail of it will be announced in due course – I would expect in the next couple of months.
“There’s ongoing discussions with various different stakeholders and parties associated with it… To be clear from the outset, that’s a men’s and women’s event. It’s a little bit early from a broadcaster perspective to be going out until it’s all locked in, but we anticipate that there will be broadcast appetite for it,” he said on Friday.
The CI had discussed the matter with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last year, but as per ESPNcricinfo, they may not have had any conversations around it recently.
The 2025 Asia Cup was a big hit. Arch-rivals India and Pakistan played each other thrice, and the matches were seen by millions of cricket fans all over the world. The short war between India and Pakistan earlier in the year particularly added spice to the event as many controversies erupted during the tournament.
There is no doubt that
the 2025 Asia Cup would have encouraged the CI greatly to have something similar for their own region. The UK may not be part of Europe anymore, but that matters little, frankly. It’s a great idea, to all intents and purposes.