The 2024 Major League Cricket season (also known as MLC 2024, or for sponsorship reasons as 2024 Cognizant Major League Cricket) will be 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 is set to be 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] It will be played from July 5 to 28, 2024, with MI New York as the defending champions.[5]
| Dates | 5 – 28 July 2024 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | American Cricket Enterprises USA Cricket |
| Cricket format | Twenty20 |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and playoffs |
| Host(s) | United States |
| Participants | 6 |
| Official website | Major League Cricket |
Background edit
In December 2023, it was announced that the second season of the tournament would begin on July 4, 2024, four days after the conclusion of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[6] This was later moved back a day to July 5.[7] It was also reported that matches would be played at Grand Prairie Stadium, alongside other venues.[8] By March 2024, MLC had announced that they had signed Cognizant to serve as the season's title sponsor. [9]
On February 15, 2024, the overseas players' retention lists were announced, with the number of overseas slots having been upped to nine.[10] In the following months, teams would go on to select further overseas players, including Australian cricketers Steven Smith and Travis Head.[11][12] The domestic players' draft was virtually held on March 21, 2024, with a total of 20 players being picked by the teams over 10 rounds.[13] An additional draft is scheduled for June 16 in order for teams to complete their squads.[14] The season schedule was released on May 7, with defending champions MI New York to face the Seattle Orcas in the season opener, and the final set for July 28.[7]
Teams edit
All the six teams from the previous season will take 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 | TBA | Shane Watson |
| Seattle Orcas | Wayne Parnell | Pravin Amre |
| Texas Super Kings | Faf du Plessis | Stephen Fleming |
| Washington Freedom | TBA | Ricky Ponting |
Squads edit
A minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 19 players can be selected by the teams with a maximum of nine overseas players. The teams can also retain their domestic players during the retention window, which was open till February 29, 2024.[15] The teams were allowed to select the remaining domestic players during the draft which was held on March 21, 2024 and another additional draft scheduled to be held on June 16, 2024.
| Los Angeles Knight Riders | MI New York | San Francisco Unicorns | Seattle Orcas | Texas Super Kings | Washington Freedom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Venues edit
Matches will be held at two venues: Grand Prairie Stadium, situated in Grand Prairie, Texas, boasting a capacity of 7,000 seats (expandable to 15,000), and Church Street Park, nestled in Morrisville, North Carolina, accommodating up to 3,500 spectators.
Points table edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Knight Riders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advanced to Qualifier |
| 2 | MI New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | San Francisco Unicorns | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Advanced to Eliminator |
| 4 | Seattle Orcas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 5 | Texas Super Kings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 6 | Washington Freedom | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
League stage edit
On 7 May 2024, Major League Cricket (MLC) confirmed the fixtures for the competition.[18][19][20]
Play-offs edit
| Qualifier | Challenger | Final | |||||||||||
| July 25, 2024 – Grand Prairie Stadium | July 28, 2024 – Grand Prairie Stadium | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 1st placed team | QW | Winner of Qualifier | ||||||||||
| 2 | 2nd placed team | July 26, 2024 – Grand Prairie Stadium | CW | Winner of Challenger | |||||||||
| QL | Loser of Qualifier | ||||||||||||
| Eliminator | EW | Winner of Eliminator | |||||||||||
| July 24, 2024 – Grand Prairie Stadium | |||||||||||||
| 3 | 3rd placed team | ||||||||||||
| 4 | 4th placed team | ||||||||||||
Eliminator edit
Qualifier edit
Challenger edit
Final edit
References 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.
- ^ "Mumbai Indians New York: Champions of the first ever Major League Cricket T20 tournament in the US". Fobes India. 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.
- ^ "MLC 2024: All Six Major League Cricket Teams Announce Domestic Players Retained". News 18. 2 March 2024.
- ^ "2024 MLC Domestic Draft Results". Major League Cricket. 22 March 2024.
- ^ "MLC 2024 - Points Table your". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ "MAJOR LEAGUE CRICKET UNLEASHES 2024 SEASON SCHEDULE, MARKING A NEW ERA OF T20 ACTION IN THE UNITED STATES". Major League Cricket. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ "MAJOR LEAGUE CRICKET 2024" (PDF). Major League Cricket. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ "Cricket Unleashed The 2024 Cognizant Major League Cricket schedule is here 🙌 💥". 7 May 2024.