The inaugural Major League Cricket tournament is finally here.
The T20 competition, the United States’ most ambitious attempt yet to establish professional cricket, will be played across three weeks at Texas’ Grand Prairie Stadium and North Carolina’s Church Street Park.
Each of the six franchises — based in Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Seattle and New York City — was given a $1.5 million salary cap to secure 18 players, with a maximum of seven overseas stars.
The six-team tournament received financial backing from wealthy Indian businesses and celebrities, with more than AU$174 million invested by the likes of Microsoft boss Satya Nardella and Bollywood legend Shah Rukh Khan.
“The goal is to grow the game of cricket and expose the sport in the USA,” tournament director Justin Geale told AFP.
“We‘ve got some of the best players in the world that can actually represent the product, do it justice. So it’s going to be a good quality game of cricket that gives us the best chance to show existing fans and new fans the game.
“We‘ve got as far as anyone ever has. So after all the false starts, I think it’s finally here.”
Former Australian skipper Aaron Finch and Sydney Sixers veteran Moises Henriques will lead the San Francisco Unicorns and Washington Freedom respectively, while the two franchises will be coached by former Test all-rounder Shane Watson and NSW Blues mentor Greg Shipperd.
Many other Australian internationals will feature, including Adam Zampa, Tim David, Jason Behrendorff, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Sams, Ben Dwarshuis and Josh Philippe. The Seattle Orcas had initially secured the services of Mitchell Marsh, but the Australian all-rounder was forced to withdraw due to Ashes commitments.
There are also several international superstars taking part, including West Indies champion Andre Russell, New Zealand quick Trent Boult and South African prodigy Dewald Brevis.
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HOW TO WATCH
Every match of the inaugural season of Major League Cricket will be broadcast on Foxtel and streaming platform Kayo.
Major League Cricket runs from Thursday, July 13 through to the final on Sunday, July 30.
SQUADS
Los Angeles Knight Riders
Sunil Narine (c), Ali Khan, Unmukt Chand, Jaskaran Malhotra, Nitish Kumar, Corne Dry, Ali Sheikh, Saif Badar, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Bhaskar Yadram, Andre Russell, Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Zampa, Rilee Rossouw, Spencer Johnson, Gajanand Singh
MI New York
Kieron Pollard (c), Steven Taylor, Hammad Azam, Ehsan Adil, Nosthush Kenjige, Monank Patel (wk), Sarabjit Ladda, Shayan Jahangir (wk), Kyle Phillip, Saideep Ganesh, Trent Boult, Rashid, Khan, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, David Wiese, Kagiso Rabada, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Behrendorff, Jasdeep Singh
San Francisco Unicorns
Aaron Finch (c), Corey Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Tajinder Singh, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Carmi Le Roux, Brody Couch, David White, Smit Patel, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Marcus Stoinis, Lungi Ngidi, Matthew Wade, Qais Ahmad, Finn Allen, Mackenzie Harvey, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, Amila Aponso
Seattle Orcas
Wayne Parnell (c), Harmeet Singh, Shehan Jayasuriya, Shubham Ranjane, Cameron Gannon, Aaron Jones, Nauman Anwar, Phani Simhadri, Angelo Perera, Matthew Tromp, Quinton de Kock, Dasun Shanaka, Andrew Tye, Heinrich Klaasen, Dwaine Pretorius, Nisarg Patel, Shimron Hetmyer, Imad Wasim, Hayden Walsh Jr
Texas Super Kings
Faf du Plessis (c), Rusty Theron, Calvin Savage, Lahiru Milantha, Milind Kumar, Sami Aslam, Cameron Stevenson, Cody Chetty, Zia Shahzad, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Devon Conway, Mitchell Santner, Daniel Sams, David Miller, Gerald Coetzee, Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Mohammad Mohsin, Imran Tahir
Washington Freedom
Moises Henriques (c), Andries Gous, Mukhtar Ahmed, Obus Pienaar, Saurabh Netravalkar, Saad Ali, Dane Piedt, Sujith Gowda, Justin Dill, Akhilesh Bodugum, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Glenn Phillips, Adam Milne, Josh Philippe, Ben Dwarshuis, Akeal Hosein, Usman Rafiq, Tanveer Sangha
FIXTURES
All times local
13 July – Texas Super Kings vs Los Angeles Knight Riders, 7.30pm
14 July – MI New York vs San Francisco Unicorns, 3.30pm
14 July – Seattle Orcas vs Washington Freedom, 7.30pm
15 July – San Francisco Unicorns vs Seattle Orcas, 7.30pm
16 July – Texas Super Kings vs Washington Freedom, 3.30pm
16 July – Los Angeles Knight Riders vs MI New York, 7.30pm
17 July – Texas Super Kings vs MI New York, 7.30pm
18 July – Los Angeles Knight Riders vs San Francisco Unicorns, 7.30pm
20 July – Washington Freedom vs Los Angeles Knight Riders, 5.30pm
21 July – Seattle Orcas vs Texas Super Kings, 5.30pm
22 July – Washington Freedom vs San Francisco Unicorns, 5.30pm
23 July – Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Seattle Orcas, 1.30pm
23 July – MI New York vs Washington Freedom, 5.30pm
24 July – San Francisco Unicorns vs Texas Super Kings, 5.30pm
25 July – MI New York vs Seattle Orcas, 5.30pm
27 July – Eliminator, 3.30pm
27 July – Qualifier, 7.30pm
28 July – Challenger, 7.30pm
30 July – Final, 7.30pm