Franchise cricket comes to the United States of America for the first time with Major League Cricket (MLC) on 13th July (14th July in India). Cricket in the USA is on the rise at the moment. The USA Men’s national team was part of the ODI World Cup 2023 Qualifiers in Zimbabwe in the last few weeks. They failed to register a single win in the tournament but reaching the qualifiers was in itself a big deal. Cricket in the USA is not something new in fact they were part of the first international match played in 1844 against Canada. The MLC aims to improve the quality of cricket in the country.
How will MLC help the USA?
USA has the co-hosting rights for the 2024 T20 World Cup alongside West Indies. This has ensured a direct qualification from them. To help cricket in the USA grow it is mandatory for every franchise to have at least one U-23 player from the USA as well as 10 domestic players on their roster. The minimum amount of players any franchise needs to have is 16 while the maximum is 19.
MLC Teams
Los Angeles Knight Riders
Texas Super Kings
MI New York
Seattle Orcas
San Francisco Unicorns
Washington Freedom
Squads
Los Angeles Knight Riders
Andre Russell, Sunil Narine (C), Martin Guptill, Rilee Rossouw, Unmukt Chand, Adam Zampa, Jaskaran Malhotra, Corne Dry, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Jason Roy, Nitish Kumar, Saif Badar, Ali Sheikh, Bhaskar Yadram, Ali Khan, Lockie Ferguson
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Phil Simmons
Assistant Coach: Ryan Ten Doeschate
Analyst: AR Srikkanth
Manager: Wayne Bentley
Texas Super Kings
Faf du Plessis (C), Devon Conway, Mitchell Santner, David Miller, Gerald Coetzee, Dwayne Bravo, Daniel Sams, Rusty Theron, Calvin Savage, Lahiru Milantha, Milind Kumar, Sami Aslam, Cameron Stevenson, Cody Chetty, Zia Shahzad, Saiteja Mukkamalla
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Stephen Flemming
Assistant Coach: Eric Simons, Albie Morkel
Strength and Conditioning: Gregory King
Analyst: Lakshmi Narayanan
Manager: Russell Radhakrishnan
MI New York
Kieron Pollard (C), Trent Boult, Rashid Khan, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, David Wiese, Kagiso Rabada, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Behrendorff, Steven Taylor, Ehsan Adil, Monank Patel, Shayan Jahangir, Saideep Ganesh, Hammad Azam, Nosthush Henjige, Sarbjeet Ladda, Usman Rafiq
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Robin Peterson
Batting Coach: J Arun Kumar
Fielding Coach: James Pamment
Bowling Coach: Lasith Malinga
Seattle Orcas
Shehan Jayasuriya, Nauman Anwar, Harmeet Singh, Cameron Gannan, Dasun Shanaka, Quinton de Kock, Matthew Tromp, Andrew Tye, Aaron Jones, Heinrich Klaasen, Angelo Perera, Shubham Ranjane, Mitchell Marsh, Sikandar Raza, Phani Simhadri, Wayne Parnell, Izharulhaq Naveed
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Pravin Amre
Batting Coach: Ross Taylor
Bowling Coach: Johan Botha
San Francisco Unicorns
Aaron Finch (C), David White, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Corey Anderson, Marcus Stoinis, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Tajinder Singh, Brody Couch, Carmi Le Roux, Liam Plunkett, Lungi Ngidi, Matthew Wade, Qais Ahmad, Finn Allen, Mackenzie Harvey, Smit Patel, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Shane Watson
Washington Freedom
Moises Henriques (C), Mukhtar Ahmed, Saad Ali, Sujith Gowda, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jacobus Pienaar, Justin Dill, Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortje, Saurabh Netravalkar, Dane Piedt, Marco Jansen, Akhilesh Bodugum, Adam Milne, Ben Dwarshuis, Akeal Hosein, Andries Gous, Glenn Phillips, Josh Philippe
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Greg Shipperd
Bowling Coach: Dale Steyn
Format of MLC
The MLC will follow a similar format to the Indian Premier League. In the league stage, all six teams will play five matches against the other teams. The top two teams will qualify for the Qualifier. The winner of the Qualifier will move to the finals while the loser will have a second chance. The 3rd and 4th placed teams will qualify for the Eliminator where the winner will qualify for the Challenger where they will take on the loser from the Qualifier. The winner of the Challenger will play in the finals against the winner from the Qualifier.
Schedule of MLC
There will be 19 matches in the tournament including four playoffs. The first eight league games will be held at Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas followed by seven games at the Church Street Park Stadium in Morrisville. The playoffs would be played at the Grand Prairie Stadium. Here is the schedule.
Texas Super Kings vs LA Knight Riders, 14th July, 6:00 AM (IST)
MI New York vs San Francisco Unicorns, 15th July, 2:00 AM (IST)
Seattle Orcas vs Washington Freedom, 15th July, 6:00 AM (IST)
San Francisco Unicorns vs Seattle Orcas, 16th July, 6:00 AM (IST)
Texas Super Kings vs Washington Freedom, 17th July, 2:00 AM (IST)
LA Knight Riders vs MI New York, 17th July, 6:00 AM (IST)
Texas Super Kings vs MI New York, 18th July, 6:00 AM (IST)
LA Knight Riders vs San Francisco Unicorns, 19th July, 6:00 AM (IST)
Washington Freedom vs LA Knight Riders, 21st July, 3:00 AM (IST)
Seattle Orcas vs Texas Super Kings, 22nd July, 3:00 AM (IST)
Washington Freedom vs San Francisco Unicorns, 23rd July, 3:00 AM (IST)
LA Knight Riders vs Seattle Orcas, 23rd July, 11:00 PM (IST)
MI New York vs Washington Freedom, 24th July, 3:00 AM (IST)
San Francisco Unicorns vs Texas Super Kings, 25th July, 3:00 AM (IST)
MI New York vs Seattle Orcas, 26th July, 3:00 AM (IST)
Playoffs
Qualifier, 28th July, 2:00 AM (IST)
Eliminator, 28th July, 6:00 AM (IST)
Challenger, 29th July, 6:00 AM (IST)
Final, 31st July, 6:00 AM (IST)
Where can we watch MLC?
In India, the matches will be telecasted on Sports18 and will be live-streamed on JioCinema.
Also Read: World Cup 2023: How does the schedule benefit India?
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