Belfast Wolves marquee signing Paul Stirling believes creating the right culture will be every bit as important as collecting early victories when the new European T20 Premier League gets under way this week.

The Ireland opener is one of the headline names in the Belfast squad alongside a host of international stars, while young left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys is relishing his first taste of franchise cricket and the opportunity to represent his home city on the European stage.

The Wolves will begin their campaign against Dublin Guardians as the new six-team competition brings together franchises from Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands.

For Stirling, accustomed to franchise environments around the world, the challenge is not simply throwing a collection of outstanding players together and expecting immediate results. Belfast have just completed a pre-tournament camp in the Netherlands designed to accelerate the process of turning individuals into a team.

“I’m really excited for the tournament to go ahead,” said Stirling. “We have had a bit of a camp in Holland and I think that’s critical in these franchise events, especially in an inaugural tournament. You have to try to gel and bond quite quickly, so it’s brilliant that Kev set up this camp.”

Winning, naturally, remains the objective. Yet Stirling believes the first edition of the ETPL also has a responsibility to establish something sustainable.

“You want to win the tournament, but it’s really important to get all the other processes right,” he said. “You want it to have a family feel. That’s just as important, particularly in the first tournament, because if you create an environment that makes people want to come back, that’s important.

“We want this tournament to be here for years and years to come. We’ve got plenty of players from Belfast itself and I think that’s really important. Having local players helps bring the fans in and creates that support network. At the end of the day, though, we’re here to play, we’re here to win and hopefully at the end of it we’ll have a trophy.”

For Humphreys, the tournament offers a different experience. The Instonians spinner may already be an established Ireland international, but sharing a franchise dressing room with leading overseas players represents new territory.

“It’ll be class,” said Humphreys. “It’s my first taste of franchise cricket, so I’m really looking forward to getting started. There are a lot of world-class players involved and playing alongside them is going to be pretty cool. You want to learn as much as possible from those players.

“We’re looking forward to getting stuck in, trying to win games of cricket for Belfast. It’s going to be such a great experience for everyone involved.”

The Belfast identity is particularly significant for Humphreys. The Wolves have made their connection with the city a central part of their launch, and the presence of local players gives youngsters in Northern Ireland a franchise they can identify with.

“Trying to build an atmosphere around the team and a support base here in Belfast is obviously very important,” said Humphreys. “It’s something the franchise is really keen on, which is great. Having a few Belfast lads in the team is brilliant and it’ll be pretty cool for us to go and represent our home city in a European competition.”

There should also be no shortage of edge when Belfast face Dublin. Many of the Irish players are international team-mates for most of the year, but Humphreys expects loyalties to change quickly once they pull on opposing franchise shirts.

“It’ll be fun playing against our team-mates,” he said. “There’ll obviously be a bit of niggle there because everyone wants to win on the day. With the Belfast lads playing for this team, we’ll want to put our best foot forward and try to get one up on them. It’ll be good fun.”

Guiding the Wolves will be former Ireland great Kevin O’Brien, whose aggressive instincts as a player have not been forgotten by Stirling.

“First and foremost, he’s an Irish cricket legend and everyone knows what he did on the field,” said Stirling. “I think every head coach brings parts of the game they had when they played, and you’re going to see that with Kev. If you were lucky enough to see him as a batter, a bowler and a competitor, you’ll see a little bit of that in what he brings as a coach.

“I’d say it’s going to be entertainment first and foremost. He went out to entertain crowds as a player and he’ll certainly bring an aggressive approach. I don’t think there’s going to be any holding back. You can see that from the overseas stars we’ve signed as well. I don’t think there’ll be too much nudging around for ones and twos. We’ll be trying to clear the rope and we’ll be trying to take wickets. Ultimately, Kev is a fierce competitor and he’ll want the win as well.”

Stirling also hopes supporters embrace the Wolves from the beginning, even though the competition’s Irish leg will initially be staged away from Belfast.

“It’s going to be star-studded,” he said. “There are some great players involved, both local players and internationals. We want to bring this tournament to Belfast in the future as well, so get involved as much as you can, watch it online and get to the games.

“Ultimately, when we can bring this to Belfast and Stormont in the future, we want to already have that fan base here. We’re really excited to see who comes out.”

Belfast Wolves start their tournament on Thursday against Dublin Guardians.

Paul Stirling and Matthew Humphreys were interviewed by the Irish Cricket Podcast.