The New England Eagles are an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The team is based in Boston. It was formed in 2020 as part of 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket.[1]
| League | Minor League Cricket | |
|---|---|---|
| Conference | Eastern Division (Atlantic Conference) | |
| Personnel | ||
| Captain | Assad Fudadin | |
| Team information | ||
| City | Boston | |
| Colours | Purple, and Red. | |
| Founded | 2020 | |
| Home ground | Keney Park Cricket Field, Hartford | |
| ||
The team's home ground is Keney Park, Hartford, CT.[2] Assad Fudadin took the helm as captain.[3]
Franchise history
editBackground
editTalks of an American Twenty20 league started in November 2018 just before USA Cricket became the new governing body of cricket in the United States.[4][5] In May 2021, USA Cricket announced they had accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a US$1 billion investment covering the league and other investments benefitting the U.S. national teams.[6]
In an Annual General Meeting on February 21, 2020, it was announced that USA Cricket was planning to launch Major League Cricket in 2021 and Minor League Cricket that summer,[7] but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic[8] and due to the lack of high-quality cricket stadiums in the USA.[9] Major League Cricket was pushed to a summer-2023 launch[10] and Minor League Cricket was pushed back to July 31, 2021.[11]
USA Cricket CEO Iain Higgins also pointed out cities such as New York City, Houston and Los Angeles with a large cricket fanbase, and targeted them among others as launch cities for Minor League Cricket.[12]
Exhibition league
editIn July 2020, the player registration for the Minor League Cricket exhibition league began.[13] On August 15, 2020, USA Cricket announced the teams participating in the exhibition league matches, also listing the owners for each team.[14] The draft for the exhibition league began on August 22, 2020,[15] with the New England Eagles releasing their squad on August 24.[16] TBA was later named as captain for the New England Eagles in the exhibition league.[17]
2021 season
editAfter the conclusion of the exhibition league, USA Cricket announced that they were planning to launch the inaugural season of Minor League Cricket in spring 2021.[18] Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31,[19] they announced Assad Fudadin as captain and Justin Dill as vice-captain.[3]
2022 season
editAhead of the 2022 season, Major League Cricket announced that the draft for that season would take place on May 12.[20]
Current squad
edit- Players with international caps are listed in bold.
| Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Year signed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batsmen | ||||||
| All-rounders | ||||||
| Wicket-keepers | ||||||
References
edit- ^ "Minor League Cricket Announces Franchise Owners and Draft Update". USA Cricket. August 15, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
- ^ "Minor League Division Preview Series - Eastern". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. July 27, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ a b Hays, Nate (August 18, 2020). "Minor League Cricket announces teams and owners list, draft on August 22, exhibition games tentative". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ Penna, Peter Della (January 8, 2019). "USA formally approved to rejoin ICC as Associate Member under USA Cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ Penna, Peter Della (November 27, 2018). "USA plan to launch their T20 League in 2021". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "USA Cricket Chooses Partner to Fund and Develop U.S.-Based Professional T20 Cricket League". USA Cricket. May 23, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "USA Cricket Board Meeting February 2020". USA Cricket. February 27, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "USA Cricket re-evaluating Major League Cricket debut timing due to Covid-19 concerns". SportBusiness. August 2, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "American Major League Cricket tournament launch pushed to 2023 at Annual General Meeting". Inside the Games. May 24, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ Penna, Peter Della (May 21, 2021). "USA's MLC T20 tournament pushed back to 2023 at AGM". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ Penna, Peter Della (July 30, 2021). "Minor League Cricket: T20 league in USA kicks off with Sami Aslam, Corey Anderson in the mix". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ Penna, Peter Della (February 27, 2020). "New York, Boston, Chicago, LA among 22 targeted launch cities for USA T20 competition". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "Minor League Cricket Announces Player Registration Opening". USA Cricket. July 7, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "Minor League Cricket Announces Franchise Owners and Draft Update". USA Cricket. August 15, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "Inaugural Minor League Cricket Draft to Take Place Today". USA Cricket. August 22, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "Minor League Cricket Draft results with 15 Squads Selected". USA Cricket. August 24, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "17 of the 24 Squads Confirmed as Inaugural Minor League Cricket Draft is completed". USA Cricket. September 2, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "USA Cricket Launches Foundational Plan". USA Cricket. October 15, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "American Cricket History to be Made on Minor League Cricket Opening Weekend". Major League Cricket. USA Cricket. July 29, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "Title and Presenting Partners Announced for 2022 Minor League Cricket Championship". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.