The 2024 Major League Cricket season (also known as MLC 2024, or for sponsorship reasons as 2024 Cognizant Major League Cricket) was the second season of Major League Cricket,[1][2] a franchise Twenty20 cricket league established in 2019 by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) in the United States.[3] The season was hosted, as was the case the previous season, at two venues: Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas and Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina.[4] The season was played from July 5 to 28, 2024, with the Washington Freedom defeating the San Francisco Unicorns by 96 runs to win the tournament.[5]
 | |
| Dates | July 5 – 28, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | American Cricket Enterprises USA Cricket |
| Cricket format | Twenty20 |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and playoffs |
| Host(s) |  United States |
| Champions | Washington Freedom (1st title) |
| Runners-up | San Francisco Unicorns |
| Participants | 6 |
| Matches | 25 |
| Player of the series | Travis Head (Washington Freedom) |
| Most runs | Faf du Plessis (Texas Super Kings) (420) |
| Most wickets | Saurabh Netravalkar (Washington Freedom) (15) |
| Official website | Major League Cricket |
MI New York were the defending champions.[6]
Background
editIn December 2023, it was announced that the second season of the tournament would begin on July 5, 2024, four days after the conclusion of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[7] This was later moved back a day to July 5.[8] It was also reported that matches would be played at Grand Prairie Stadium, alongside other venues.[9] By March 2024, MLC had announced that they had signed Cognizant to serve as the season's title sponsor.[10]
On February 15, 2024, the overseas players' retention lists were announced, with the number of overseas slots having been upped to nine.[11] In the following months, teams would go on to select further overseas players, including Australian cricketers Steven Smith and Travis Head.[12][13] The domestic players' draft was virtually held on March 21, 2024, with a total of 20 players being picked by teams over 10 rounds.[14] An additional draft was scheduled for June 16 for teams to complete their squads.[15]
The season schedule was released by MLC on May 7, with defending champions MI New York facing the Seattle Orcas in the season opener, and the final set for July 28 at Grand Prairie Stadium.[8][16] Later that month, MLC announced that they had obtained official List A status for all tournament fixtures, becoming the second Associate-run league to have it alongside the ILT20.[17]
Teams
editAll the six teams from the previous season took part this season.
| Franchise | Captain | Head coach |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Knight Riders | Sunil Narine | Phil Simmons |
| MI New York | Kieron Pollard | Robin Peterson |
| San Francisco Unicorns | Corey Anderson | Shane Watson |
| Seattle Orcas | Wayne Parnell | Pravin Amre |
| Texas Super Kings | Faf du Plessis | Stephen Fleming |
| Washington Freedom | Steve Smith | Ricky Ponting |
Squads
editA minimum of 16 and a maximum of 19 players can be selected by teams with a cap of nine overseas players. The teams also can retain any domestic players during the retention window, which was open until February 29, 2024.[18] Teams were allowed to select any remaining domestic players during MLC's domestic draft, which was held on March 21, 2024, and a supplementary draft, which was held on June 16.[19]
| Los Angeles Knight Riders | MI New York | San Francisco Unicorns | Seattle Orcas | Texas Super Kings | Washington Freedom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Venues
editMatches are set to held at two venues, Grand Prairie Stadium with a capacity of 7,200 located in Grand Prairie, Texas, and Church Street Park with a capacity of 3,500, located in Morrisville, North Carolina.[21]
Points table
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington Freedom (C) | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1.891 | Advanced to Qualifier |
| 2 | San Francisco Unicorns | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0.588 | |
| 3 | Texas Super Kings | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0.604 | Advanced to Eliminator |
| 4 | MI New York | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | −0.451 | |
| 5 | Los Angeles Knight Riders | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | −0.710 | |
| 6 | Seattle Orcas | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | −1.312 |
League stage
editSeattle Orcas
108 (19.1 overs) |
v
|
MI New York
111/4 (14.2 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
- Ruben Clinton (MI New York) made his T20 debut.
Los Angeles Knight Riders
162/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
Texas Super Kings (H)
150/8 (20 overs) |
- Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
- Joshua Tromp (Texas Super Kings) made his T20 debut.
MI New York
154/9 (20 overs) |
v
|
Washington Freedom
55/1 (7.4 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
- Rain prevented any further play.
- Washington Freedom were 4 runs ahead of the DLS par score of 51 runs from 7.4 overs.
Los Angeles Knight Riders
165/6 (20 overs) |
v
|
San Francisco Unicorns
166/4 (15.2 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field.
- Sanjay Krishnamurthi (San Francisco Unicorns) made his T20 debut.
Texas Super Kings
203/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
Washington Freedom
62/0 (4 overs) |
Travis Head 32* (12)
|
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
- Rain prevented any further play.
Los Angeles Knight Riders
168/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
Seattle Orcas
169/1 (19.5 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
- Ryan Rickelton (Seattle Orcas) scored his first century in T20s.[22]
San Francisco Unicorns
127 (17.5 overs) |
v
|
Texas Super Kings
128/3 (12.5 overs) |
- Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Seattle Orcas
124 (19.4 overs) |
v
|
Washington Freedom
127/5 (18.2 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
v
|
||
- Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
- No play was possible due to rain.
v
|
||
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field.
- No play was possible due to rain.
Los Angeles Knight Riders
129 (18.4 overs) |
v
|
Washington Freedom
130/2 (16 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
(H) Texas Super Kings
176/6 (20 overs) |
v
|
MI New York
161/7 (20 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
San Francisco Unicorns
165/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
Seattle Orcas
142/6 (20 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
Washington Freedom
182/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
MI New York
88 (13.3 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
Seattle Orcas
142/6 (20 overs) |
v
|
Los Angeles Knight Riders
143/6 (19.1 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to bat.
- Ali Sheikh (Seattle Orcas) made his T20 debut.
San Francisco Unicorns
148/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
MI New York
145/7 (20 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to bat.
Washington Freedom
206/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
Texas Super Kings (H)
164 (19.5 overs) |
- Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
- Noor Ahmad (Texas Super Kings) took his 100th wicket in T20s.
Seattle Orcas
152/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
San Francisco Unicorns
156/4 (14.2 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field.
- Quinton de Kock (Seattle Orcas) scored his 10,000th run in T20s.
Los Angeles Knight Riders
130 (19.1 overs) |
v
|
MI New York
134/6 (17 overs) |
- MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
- Rushil Ugarkar (MI New York) made his T20 debut.
Washington Freedom
174/3 (15.3 overs) |
v
|
San Francisco Unicorns
177/4 (13.4 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field.
- Washington Freedom innings was reduced to 15.3 overs due to rain.
- San Francisco Unicorns were set a revised target of 177 runs from 14 overs due to rain.
- Juanoy Drysdale (San Francisco Unicorns) made his T20 debut.
(H) Texas Super Kings
177/8 (20 overs) |
v
|
Seattle Orcas
140/9 (20 overs) |
- Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
- Ayan Desai (Seattle Orcas) and Zia Shahzad (Texas Super Kings) both made their T20 debut.
Play-offs
edit| Qualifier | Challenger | Final | |||||||||||
| July 25, 2024 – Dallas | July 28, 2024 – Dallas | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Washington Freedom | 149/3 (15.3 overs) | QW | Washington Freedom | 207/5 (20 overs) | ||||||||
| 2 | San Francisco Unicorns | 145 (19 overs) | July 26, 2024 – Dallas | CW | San Francisco Unicorns | 111 (16 overs) | |||||||
| QL | San Francisco Unicorns | 200/6 (20 overs) | |||||||||||
| Eliminator | EW | Texas Super Kings | 190/4 (20 overs) | ||||||||||
| July 24, 2024 – Dallas | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Texas Super Kings | 167/1 (18.3 overs) | |||||||||||
| 4 | MI New York | 163/8 (20 overs) | |||||||||||
Eliminator
editMI New York
163/8 (20 overs) |
v
|
Texas Super Kings (H)
167/1 (18.3 overs) |
- Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Qualifier
editSan Francisco Unicorns
145 (19 overs) |
v
|
Washington Freedom
149/3 (15.3 overs) |
- Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
Challenger
editSan Francisco Unicorns
200/6 (20 overs) |
v
|
Texas Super Kings (H)
190/4 (20 overs) |
- Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Final
editWashington Freedom
207/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
San Francisco Unicorns
111 (16 overs) |
- San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field.
Statistics
editMost runs
edit| Runs | Player | Team | Inns | HS | SR | Ave |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 420 | Faf du Plessis | Texas Super Kings | 8 | 100 | 171.42 | 52.50 |
| 336 | Steve Smith | Washington Freedom | 9 | 88 | 148.67 | 56.00 |
| Travis Head | 9 | 77* | 173.19 | 48.00 | ||
| 306 | Finn Allen | San Francisco Unicorns | 9 | 101 | 187.73 | 34.00 |
| 293 | Devon Conway | Texas Super Kings | 8 | 62* | 143.62 | 58.60 |
| Source: ESPNCricinfo | ||||||
Most wickets
edit| Wkts | Player | Team | Inns | Ovs | BBI | Eco |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Saurabh Netravalkar | Washington Freedom | 7 | 26.2 | 4/35 | 7.67 |
| 12 | Rachin Ravindra | Washington Freedom | 6 | 15.1 | 4/11 | 4.81 |
| 11 | Cameron Gannon | Seattle Orcas | 7 | 23.0 | 3/26 | 9.21 |
| Marco Jansen | Washington Freedom | 8 | 31.0 | 3/28 | 8.61 | |
| 10 | Hassan Khan | San Francisco Unicorns | 7 | 22.0 | 3/5 | 7.09 |
| Rashid Khan | MI New York | 7 | 26 | 3/22 | 6.15 | |
| Glenn Maxwell | Washington Freedom | 8 | 25.3 | 3/15 | 6.66 | |
| Lockie Ferguson | 7 | 25.2 | 4/26 | 7.26 | ||
| Source: ESPNCricinfo | ||||||
Awards
editOn July 29, 2024, a list of end of season awards was announced.[23]
| Name | Team | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Travis Head | Washington Freedom | Most Valuable Player |
| Faf du Plessis | Texas Super Kings | Leading run scorer |
| Saurabh Netravalkar | Washington Freedom | Leading wicket taker |
| Hassan Khan | San Francisco Unicorns | Domestic Player of the Series |
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "Cognizant named as Major League Cricket title partner". Major League Cricket. 13 March 2024.
- ^ "Ahead of second season, Major League Cricket signs Cognizant as title sponsor". The Economic Times. 13 March 2024.
- ^ "Cognizant announced as Major League Cricket title partner". Financial Express. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ Roy, Anjishnu (7 May 2024). "Major League Cricket 2024: MI New York vs Seattle Orcas in season opener - full MLC schedule". Olympics. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ McGlashan, Andrew (29 July 2024). "Smith, Maxwell star in Washington Freedom's emphatic title win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Mumbai Indians New York: Champions of the first ever Major League Cricket T20 tournament in the US". Forbes. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ "MLC 2024 set for July 4 start". Cricbuzz. 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ a b Roller, Matt (7 May 2023). "MLC 2024 to begin on July 5, set for six-day clash with The Hundred". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ "Major League Cricket Announces 2024 Season Window". Major League Cricket. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ Broughton, David (13 March 2023). "Cognizant becomes first title sponsor for Major League Cricket". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ "INTERNATIONAL T20 SUPERSTARS RETURNING FOR MLC SEASON TWO". Major League Cricket. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Australia batter Steve Smith joins Washington Freedom for 2nd season of Major League Cricket". The Associated Press. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ Malcolm, Alex (15 April 2023). "Travis Head joins Steven Smith at Washington Freedom for Major League Cricket 2024". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ "2024 MLC Domestic Draft Results". Major League Cricket. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ Patel, Smit (21 March 2024). "MLC Domestic Draft: Hassan Khan, Joshua Tromp draw top dollars. Smit Patel unsold". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Lavalette, Tristan (8 May 2024). "Major League Cricket Enters Pivotal Second Season". Forbes. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "USA's Major League Cricket acquires List A status from ICC". Hindustan Times. 28 May 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
- ^ "MLC 2024: All Six Major League Cricket Teams Announce Domestic Players Retained". News 18. 2 March 2024.
- ^ Hays, Nate (24 March 2024). "The 2024 Major League Cricket Domestic Draft: low on hype, high on drama". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "2024 MLC Domestic Draft Results". Major League Cricket. 22 March 2024.
- ^ Coyne, Craig (31 May 2024). "Can Cricket Conquer America?". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ "Ryan Rickelton century downs LA Knight Riders". Cricbuzz. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Washington Freedom crowned Cognizant Major League Cricket 2024 champions after stunning final victory". Major League Cricket. 29 July 2024.