The tournament has attracted renowned players from various cricket-playing nations, adding to the anticipation and excitement surrounding the league’s inaugural season. Jason Roy has given up his incremental contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to play in the inaugural edition of the United States’ new Twenty20 tournament.
With an increasing trend of players prioritising franchise-based t20 leagues in the global cricket landscape, Australian cricketers like Matthew Wade, Moises Henriques and Adam Zampa are in high demand across various leagues. The shift in loyalty towards league commitment prompts players to assess the amount of time they want to devote to national duties.
Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis have already signed, and several other top Australians could soon join them in MLC.
Sydney Sixers skipper Henriques will take up the captaincy role for the Washington Freedom franchise. On the other hand, Zampa is set to join Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) franchise, Los Angeles Knight Riders. While made is another to have signed with an MLC club.
Zampa and Wade spent the past two months at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, with the leg-spinner claiming eight wickets in six matches for Rajasthan Royals (RR). At the same time, the Tasmanian wicketkeeper-batter hadn’t got a chance to feature for Gujarat Titans (GT), who eventually lost the IPL 2023 final against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Cricket New South Wales (CNSW) Head of Male Elite Cricket Michael Klinger – who has been tasked with heading the Washington Freedom’s high-performance program – told cricket.com.au he was “pleasantly surprised” with the quality of players in the US.
“The talent is there, there’s no doubt about that. There’s a lot of ex-players from the subcontinent who’ve played international cricket or been part of IPL franchises or PSL (Pakistan Super League) franchises.There were players who had been in first-class systems in the subcontinent, first-class systems in South Africa who left for different reasons. So there was definitely a positive feel about the quality that was there and that they’d be able to match it against some of our high quality overseas players as well.” Klinger said.
The inaugural edition of MLC is scheduled to take this year in July at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas. The league has received substantial support from the cricketing boards of India and Australia, with four IPL league owners investing in MLC franchises. Other Cricket Victoria and Cricket NSW hold stakes in the remaining two teams.
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