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The European T20 Premier League (ETPL) has finally arrived in Dublin after 18 games in the inaugural league were played in the Netherlands with the final group games and final to be played in Malahide Cricket Ground on Sunday 20 September. It's been a long slow process to get European franchise cricket to Ireland with the governing bodies of Ireland, the Netherlands and Scotland all involved as they look to cash in on T20 cricket that involves players from all three Unions plus a smattering of world class cricketer from around the globe. Ireland has two franchise teams the Dublin Guardians and the Belfast Wolves, both of whom played the first match of the series in Malahide last Wednesday (Dublin won incidentally, their first victory after eight successive defeats in the Netherlands). It’s taken almost a decade to finally get the International Cricket Council (ICC) sanction series off the ground It was due to be played in 2019 with a title of Euro T20 Slam and an initial player draft held at Heathrow Airport However, it never got off the ground that year (excuse the pun) and Covid ensured that the Slam was doomed In 2025 another attempt to get the ETPL up and running was announced with Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan introduced as part owner of the league, at the same time as its sanctioning by the ICC However, it was postponed last year as the franchise ownership process was not completed in time, but after all the delays and cancellations, the ETPL finally got under way last month. South African Great Faf Du Plessis is the captain of the Rotterdam Dockers and despite some teething problems and reports of some financial problems the 42-year-old sees many positives to the new series. "Obviously, in a competition like this, to get it off the ground, there's been one or two problems, but they're not insurmountable" said the legendary all rounder speaking to RTE Sport in Malahide "I think the big thing for me, always, is the cricket must come first, and the standard of cricket must be really good" "Credit to the guys who set up the competition and so far, you can see the effort that they've put into making the cricket be the main priority, things that we as cricketers take for granted, just like good side screens, good pitches, good facilities, good outfield". "If that's in a good position, then I feel like the product can be a good product. "That's the first thing. Its Secondly, it's about making sure that the competition is a place where players are having a good time in terms of coming over their families. "Because what it's about, it's about spreading the word out there that it's actually one of the better competitions around the circuit. "We, as foreigners, have the opportunity of playing in so many tournaments around the world, you almost get to a position where you choose which are the ones that you want to play during the season. "So, it's really important that the ETPL remains a Category A tournament in terms of attracting your biggest names in the sport. "If you keep doing that for those various reasons that I mentioned there, then your product will still be a very good one "I think the fact that we've got some world-class players here in year one is a great sign for that." Du Plessis is one of the top names in world cricket that are involved in the inaugural ETPL which also includes Australian Glenn Mazwell, Indian Ravichandran Ashwin, England’s Tom Curran and New Zealand opener Finn Allen. The six sides have a sprinkling of Dutch, Scottish and Irish internationals such as Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker, George Dockrell and Josh Little, teams which also include the Rotterdam Dockers, Amsterdam Flames, Edinburgh Castle Rockers and Glasgow Cosmic. "From a local perspective, the fact that these guys have waited a long time to get something like this up and running, it will benefit the local players a lot, the 42-year-old added. "it's an opportunity for these guys to get exposed at a level that's one step up, almost the same level as what international cricket would be for them. "So, what they are looking for is just more of that, right? "Just more opportunity to play at that level where you're playing against quality or playing with quality, because it makes the whole ecosystem better". The fact that it's an ICC-sanctioned event obviously helps as well "Yeah, it's big. I think it's one of the main things," Du Plessis remarked. "I've played in competitions before where it wasn't, and it's just, it doesn't feel like real cricket" "Even though it is, it doesn't feel like it because, you know, guys go, well, this doesn't count for stats, so I'm just going to have a bit of a slog. "You don't have just 10 players that you can pick from, but it actually moves to 16 or 18, which is really good for any team to lift the standard" "There's less care that goes into it, so the fact that they've got that over their line is very important." It's important as well from the Irish perspective, is that the Olympics is coming up in two years' time and Ireland will obviously try and qualify for that as T20 cricket will make its debut in Loas Angeles. Thus, this form of the game, having Ireland's best players playing, it certainly will help. "Definitely, it's big to get some good, proper cricket in before you get to that time and over the next year or two, I think the standard of it will really help the local guys. "My experience in this is that where it really makes a difference is depth. "You obviously have great players, every franchise has three or four superstars in their ranks, but sometimes it's the depth that gets a bit challenged. "So, what competitions like this does, it gives you a bit more. You don't have just 10 players that you can pick from, but it actually moves to 16 or 18, which is really good for any team to lift the standard." The EPTL continues at Malahide over the next week or so with the top team automatically qualifying for the final with the second and third placed sides facing off on Saturday the 19th of September with the winner advancing to the decider the following day.