Professional Cricket

Minor and Major League

Major League Cricket (MLC) - Professional League

Major League Logo

Major League Cricket is an upcoming T20 cricket tournament in America operated by the American Cricket Enterprise (ACE) and sanctioned by the USA Cricket. The league will feature six teams from major US cities like Dallas, San Francisco, New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. fielding top players from all around the world and only the best players in the nation.

The inaugural season of the league is scheduled from July 13-30, 2023 and the first game will take place at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas, which is MLC’s first premier stadium with a seating capacity of 7,000 spectators.

The inaugural season draft will happen on March 19, 2023 at the Space Center Houston, where teams will take turn drafting players by the method of snake drafts. The first round bid is anticipated to be 90,000 with the bid reducing after every round.

Minor League Cricket (MiLC) - Semi-Professional League

Minor League Cricket Logo.

Now onto Minor League, Minor League cricket is the latest addition to Cricket in America aimed at growing and developing the sport in the country. The league is a one-off nationwide tournament fielding only the best cricketers from across America who are given the best available resources and facilities in America. The league is a critical part of expanding cricket in America with a primary aim of providing a platform for the players to showcase their talents at a national level and develop their skills to the highest quality, while also building cricket communities across the country which the country lacks.

Thirteen players selected by USA Cricket in the 14-man squad for the Men’s National Team’s ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 Series in Papua New Guinea in September participated in MiLC this season, providing elite domestic competition in preparation for national team duty.

In addition to providing the players with a platform to showcase their talents, the MLC offers full-time annual contracts to some players on the basis of their performances and opportunities to work with top quality coaches and facilities.

Six players contracted directly by MLC, including captain Monank Patel and vice-captain Aaron Jones, are amongst the selections in the current USA squad. Two U-19 players in the current squad, Rahul Jariwala and Sai Mukkamalla, are also recipients of MLC’s UST Emerging Cricketer Scholarships providing further opportunities for elite development training both domestically and overseas.

The first season of Minor League took place in 2021, after a delayed start due to Covid-19, and fielded 26 teams from four different divisions and conferences across America. The league hosted around 200 matches over ten action packed weekends. The games had a live audience and were broadcasted on Willow TV and other digital platforms.

The Philadelphians, operated by The Philadelphians Cricket LLC, was one of the 26 teams; representing the long history of the sport in Philadelphia. Cricket fans in and out of Philadelphia came out in big numbers to support the team and to watch good quality live action they longed for. The

The team is owned and managed by diverse group of visionary founders partners with sporting and entrepreneurial backgrounds. The aim of registering the team was a step towards attracting attention to the game in Philadelphia, which once was the epicenter of Cricket in America, and to enable cricket to grow to its full potential in a city where the game is still lovingly and passionately played and followed by many. The ownership group also saw it as their responsibility to invest in player development programs on a grassroots level to enable the players to reach their full potential, developing infrastructure to provide the highest quality facilities to players and to attract national and International players and coaches to partner with the team to make Philadelphia a sought after and commercially viable hub for cricket in America.

“The 2022 MiLC season provided another step forward for the level of play in domestic cricket, as we saw in the fantastic competition this past weekend with the championship deservedly won by the Seattle Thunderbolts,” said Justin Geale, Vice-President of Cricket for Major League Cricket. “Alongside MiLC play, Major League Cricket is committed to advancing the National Team program with professional contracts for players, training camps domestically and overseas for senior and U-19 players and the use of first-class MLC facilities.”

“The consistent quality of play in MiLC and the opportunity to take part in training camps and tournaments organized by MLC is helping our national team get stronger every year,” said Aaron Jones, USA National Team vice-captain and captain of the Atlanta Fire, 2022 MiLC finalists. “It’s exciting to see young talented players coming through and developing quickly with the improved facilities and coaching now available in American cricket.”

After a two consecutive successful seasons, Minor League is set to make a comeback in 2023, this time with thrill and excitement.