America’s newest major league makes its debut today.
While cricket has flourished in England and some of its former colonies, it has never taken off to the same degree in the United States, where some have perceived it as impenetrable.
A sport played in its purist form by players in long white uniforms, test cricket goes on for five days and still often ends with no winner, with days so long players twice have to leave the field for meals.
Major League Cricket, which begins on Thursday, could change that perception. For a start, the games only go for just over three hours.
MLC will comprise six teams, from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, New York and Washington, which will play a competition of 18 matches before the first final on July 30.
Teams will have a maximum of 19 and minimum of 16 players, combining international stars and home-grown players selected through a draft which was made when the league was launched, officially and metaphorically, at Space Center Houston. Each team was allowed to sign nine local players, one of which had to be under-23.
The salaries of international players will be drawn from an initial $120 million investment from corporate backers, mainly from India.
The teams will play Twenty20 style which might be portrayed as cricket with the dull bits removed. The format may be more appealing to the American sport palate because there is always a winner: if the teams are still tied after both innings — each comprising 20 six-ball overs — a tie-breaking “super over” is played to find the winner.
Most matches will be played at the Grand Prairie Stadium near Dallas, converted to a cricket stadium with 7,200 seats and a grass pitch. Other matches will be played at Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina.
The league follows the model of professional Twenty20 — or more broadly known as T20 — leagues which already exist in places such as India, Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Caribbean, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Canada. They’re all supported by a travelling troupe of international players — many of them T20 specialists — who give leagues marquee quality.
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MLC has broader ambitions, to build minor leagues in a bid to develop training and development facilities and support the U.S. national team.
Now it remains to be seen whether American fans will find Major League Cricket to their taste and make the league itself everlasting.
Ginger has noted the arrival of this league in Dispatches from March 24 and June 30. The Axios newsletter she linked to in that second post would be an excellent PowerPoint presentation summarizing the league. There’s a lot of local interest in cricket here – we have a large Indian/Pakistani community – but Dallas got the MLC team. Oh well.
The season is super short, and like Ginger I’m skeptical of the “outdoor sports in Dallas in July” viewing experience, but I figure this will be a success. If so, I’d expect expansion, so maybe we’ll get a team here sooner or later. There’s a lot of international TV coverage, but broadcasts in the States are on something called Willow TV. I’ll be interested to see how this goes and maybe catch a game one of these days. WFAA has more.
Surprised and disappointed that Houston did not get a team given the cricket fan base here.