The 2023 Major League Cricket (also known as MLC 2023) was the inaugural season of
Major League Cricket
Major League Cricket (MLC) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in the United States organized by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and sanctioned by USA Cricket. Founded in 2023, the league operates as a single entity consisting of ...
, a franchise
Twenty20 cricket
Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...
league established in 2019 by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) in the United States. The season was hosted at two venues,
Grand Prairie Stadium in
Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas County, Texas, Dallas, Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant, and Ellis County, Texas, Ellis counties with a small part extending into Johnson County, Texas , Johnson county. It ...
and
Church Street Park
Church Street Park is a cricket ground in Morrisville, North Carolina, United States. In September 2018, it hosted the matches in the Northern sub-region group of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier tournament. In May 2019, the In ...
in
Morrisville, North Carolina
Morrisville is a town located primarily in Wake County, North Carolina, United States (a small portion extends into neighboring Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the populatio ...
. The season was played from 13 to 30 July 2023, with
MI New York
MI New York is an American professional Twenty20 cricket team based in New York City that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). The team was established in June 2023 as one of six inaugural teams. The team's planned home ground is in Marine Par ...
defeating the
Seattle Orcas
The Seattle Orcas are an American professional Twenty20 cricket team based in the Seattle metropolitan area that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). The team's planned home ground is in Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington.
The franchise ...
by seven wickets to win the inaugural title.
The tournament surpassed expectations financially, generating a reported $8 million in revenue. The tournament also garnered positive and optimistic outlooks on the future of cricket in the United States.
Background
Major League Cricket announced in November 2022 that its inaugural season would be played at
Grand Prairie Stadium starting July 13 and concluding July 30. MLC also revealed that the tournament would be played in a single round-robin format with fifteen league matches played among six franchises before a four-match play-off phase.
In March 2023, the teams for the tournament were announced ahead of the league's
inaugural draft—called the
Texas Super Kings
The Texas Super Kings are an American professional Twenty20 cricket team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). The team's home ground is Grand Prairie Stadium. The stadium has a capacity of 7,2 ...
, the
Seattle Orcas
The Seattle Orcas are an American professional Twenty20 cricket team based in the Seattle metropolitan area that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). The team's planned home ground is in Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington.
The franchise ...
, the
Los Angeles Knight Riders
The Los Angeles Knight Riders are an American professional Twenty20 cricket team based in the Greater Los Angeles area that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). The team's planned home ground is in Great Park in Irvine, California.
The f ...
, the
Washington Freedom Washington Freedom may refer to:
* Washington Freedom (cricket)
* Washington Freedom (soccer)
{{dab ...
, the
MI New York
MI New York is an American professional Twenty20 cricket team based in New York City that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). The team was established in June 2023 as one of six inaugural teams. The team's planned home ground is in Marine Par ...
and the
San Francisco Unicorns
The San Francisco Unicorns are an American professional Twenty20 cricket team based in the San Francisco Bay Area that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). The team's planned home ground is in the Oakland Coliseum.
In 2023, it was announced ...
, respectively.
The draft for the season was then held on March 19, with
Harmeet Singh being picked first overall and
Aaron Finch
Aaron James Finch (born 17 November 1986) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer who served as the captain of the Australian cricket team in One Day International, ODI and Twenty20 International, T20I cricket. Fi ...
and
Quinton de Kock
Quinton de Kock (born 17 December 1992) is a South African international cricketer and former captain of the Proteas in all three formats. He currently plays for Titans at the domestic level and for South Africa in T20Is. He was named the Cri ...
among others highlighting the draft. In the buildup to the season opener, teams signed multiple other players including
Jason Roy
Jason Jonathan Roy (born 21 July 1990) is an English cricketer who played for England in One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket, and previously played for the Test team. In domestic cricket, he represents Surrey, ...
,
Adam Zampa and
Moises Henriques
Moisés Constantino Henriques ( ; born 1 February 1987) is an Australian international cricketer who plays for Australia cricket team, Australia, New South Wales cricket team, New South Wales and the Sydney Sixers. An all-rounder, he is the fir ...
.
In April,
USA Cricket
USA Cricket (USAC) is the governing body of cricket in the United States. USA Cricket operates all of the United States national representative cricket sides, including the men's and women's national teams and youth teams, as well as Majo ...
—the governing body of cricket in the United States—officially sanctioned the tournament following a dispute with tournament organizers, American Cricket Enterprises, that threatened to delay the launch of MLC. Tournament fixtures were announced on June 12—nearly two months later. In addition, it also revealed that the tournament would be held at two venues, Grand Prairie Stadium and
Church Street Park
Church Street Park is a cricket ground in Morrisville, North Carolina, United States. In September 2018, it hosted the matches in the Northern sub-region group of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier tournament. In May 2019, the In ...
for the group stage, while all play-off matches and the final would be held at Grand Prairie Stadium. Tickets for the matches were also made available on the same day.
Teams
Teams were announced by MLC in March 2023, with team coaches and captains being announced in the months following.
Squads
A minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 19 players could be selected by the teams with a maximum of nine overseas players. The teams could select nine local players in the draft and another one as a wildcard. All teams released their squads ahead of the start of the season.
*
Ambati Rayudu
Ambati Thirupathi Rayudu (born 23 September 1985) is a former Indian international cricketer, commentator and politician. He played 61 limited overs matches for the India national cricket team between 2013 and 2019. He won the IPL trophy a reco ...
withdrew from Major League Cricket amid a proposal made by the
BCCI
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...
to enact a year-long "cooling-off" period for recently retired players. Rayudu was replaced by former
CSK teammate
Imran Tahir
Mohammad Imran Tahir (; born 27 March 1979) is a South African former international cricketer. A spin bowler who predominantly bowls googlies and a right-handed batsman, Tahir played for South Africa in all three formats of cricket.
On 15 Ju ...
.
*
Wanindu Hasaranga
Pinnaduwage Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva ( Sinhala: වනිඳු හසරංග, ; born 29 July 1997), better known as Wanindu Hasaranga, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who currently plays limited over internationals and a former T20I c ...
withdrew from Major League Cricket due to both not receiving a
NOC (no-objection-certificate) from
Sri Lanka Cricket
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Sports as the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka on 30 June 1975 as a national ...
and due to Hasaranga wanting to "manage his workloads". He was replaced in the squad by
Tanveer Sangha.
*
Mitchell Marsh
Mitchell Ross Marsh (born 20 October 1991) is an Australian international cricketer who represents Australia in all three formats. Marsh is the current Australian T20I captain, and has served as vice captain in all formats. Marsh currently plays ...
was pulled out of the tournament by
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...
in order to manage his workload ahead of Australia's build-up for the
2023 Cricket World Cup
The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup was the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted from 5 October to 19 ...
and due to the tournament clashing with the
Ashes series
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, i ...
.
*
Sikandar Raza
Sikandar Raza Butt (; born 24 April 1986) is a Pakistani-born Zimbabwean international cricketer. He is an all-rounder, who bats right-handed and bowls right arm off-spin. He made his international debut for Zimbabwe in May 2013 and is the fir ...
withdrew from Major League Cricket due to it clashing with the
2023 Zim Afro T10.
Venues
Matches were held at two venues:
Grand Prairie
Grand Prairie is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties with a small part extending into Johnson county. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a popul ...
's
Grand Prairie Stadium, with a capacity of 7,000 (expandable to 15,000) and
Morrisville, North Carolina
Morrisville is a town located primarily in Wake County, North Carolina, United States (a small portion extends into neighboring Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the populatio ...
's
Church Street Park
Church Street Park is a cricket ground in Morrisville, North Carolina, United States. In September 2018, it hosted the matches in the Northern sub-region group of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier tournament. In May 2019, the In ...
, with a capacity of 3,500.
Points table
League stage