Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024 will start on Saturday, July 6 (as per Indian Standard Time) in the United States of America (USA).
Operated by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and sanctioned by USA Cricket, MLC 2024 - the second edition of the tournament - will witness six teams competing for the title.
Texas Super Kings, Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, and Washington Freedom are the six franchises that will feature in this T20 League.
Four of the six franchises have Indian T20 League team owners either in part of full ownership. MI New York won the inaugural edition of the tournament by defeating the Seattle Orcas by seven wickets in the final.
As per the schedule released by the organisers, a total of 25 matches will be played, including the playoffs.
Each team will play seven league games. The top four teams will qualify for the MLC 2024 playoffs, which comprise the Eliminator, Qualifier, Challenger and the Final.
The playoff system scheduled at Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas, begins with the Eliminator where the third-placed team will face off against the fourth.
The winner advances to the Challenger match where they will meet the loser of the Qualifier match.
The Qualifier features the first-placed team against the second team in the standings to determine direct entry to the final.
All 25 matches are scheduled to be played at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas and North Carolina’s Church Street Park.
The MLC 2024 final will be held at the Grand Prairie Stadium on Monday, July 29 (as per IST).
Major League Cricket has become the second associate-run franchise competition to acquire List A status from the ICC, following on from the UAE's ILT20 earlier this year.
MLC is currently a six-team tournament but has the intention to grow into 10 sides in the future. MLC plans to expand from the current six teams to 10 over the next few years, jumping from 19 games in 2023 to 34 by 2025.
As many as 25 games have already been scheduled for this season. Each team is required to have between 16 and 19 players in their squad, featuring at least nine domestic players and no more than 10.
Additionally, each squad must include at least one U23 player. Teams are permitted a maximum of nine international players.
However, matchday XIs can field a maximum of six overseas players and a minimum of five domestic players.
The upcoming MLC campaign promises to captivate with big international stars now a part of the league.
Australian captain Pat Cummins has signed a four-year contract with San Francisco Unicorns, becoming one of the highest-profile players on the roster of a Major League Cricket (MLC) franchise.
Cummins is joined by hard-hitting Australian batter Jake Fraser-McGurk in the San Francisco Unicorns squad.
Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head, and Steven Smith are among other high-profile Australian players signed by the Washington Freedom. Rachin Ravindra is also a part of the Washington Freedom squad.
Other notable MLC signings for 2024 include Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan and South Africa's David Miller with Los Angeles Knight Riders, while South Africa's Anrich Nortje and West Indies' Romario Shepherd are with MI New York.
South Africa's Aiden Markram and New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell will represent Texas Super Kings, and the Proteas’ Nandre Burger and West Indies' Obed McCoy will play for Seattle Orcas.
Where to watch Major League Cricket 2024 live in India
Broadcast details of MLC 2024 matches in India are yet to be announced.
Live streaming of MLC 2024 matches will be available on the JioCinema app and website in India.
Major League Cricket 2023 schedule and live India match times
All timings are in India Standard Time (IST):
Saturday, 06 July
MI New York vs Seattle Orcas - 1:00 AM (IST)
Sunday, 07 July
Washington Freedom vs MI New York - 12:30 AM (IST)
Monday, 08 July
San Francisco Unicorns vs Los Angeles Knight Riders - 6:00 AM (IST)
Tuesday, 09 July
Washington Freedom vs Texas Super Kings - 1:00 AM (IST)
Wednesday, 10 July
Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Seattle Orcas - 6:00 AM (IST)
Thursday, 11 July
San Francisco Unicorns vs Texas Super Kings - 12:30 AM (IST)
Saturday, 13 July
MI New York vs Texas Super Kings - 12:30 AM (IST)
Seattle Orcas vs Washington Freedom - 6:00 AM (IST)
Sunday, 14 July
Los Angeles Knight Riders vs San Francisco Unicorns - 12:30 AM (IST)
Monday, 15 July
Washington Freedom vs Los Angeles Knight Riders - 1:00 AM (IST)
Texas Super Kings vs MI New York - 6:00 AM (IST)
Tuesday, 16 July
Seattle Orcas vs San Francisco Unicorns - 12:30 AM (IST)
Wednesday, 17 July
MI New York vs Washington Freedom - 6:00 AM (IST)
Thursday, 18 July
Seattle Orcas vs Los Angeles Knight Riders - 12:30 AM (IST)
Friday, 19 July
MI New York vs San Francisco Unicorns - 6:00 AM (IST)
Saturday, 20 July
Texas Super Kings vs Washington Freedom - 6:00 AM (IST)
Sunday, 21 July
San Francisco Unicorns vs Seattle Orcas - 6:00 AM (IST)
Monday, 22 July
Los Angeles Knight Riders vs MI New York - 6:00 AM (IST)
Tuesday, 23 July
San Francisco Unicorns vs Washington Freedom - 6:00 AM (IST)
Wednesday, 24 July
Texas Super Kings vs Seattle Orcas - 6:00 AM (IST)
Thursday, 25 July
Eliminator: Teams TBA - 6:00 AM (IST)
Friday, 26 July
Qualifier: Teams TBA - 6:00 AM (IST)
Saturday, 27 July
Challenger: Teams TBA - 6:00 AM (IST)
Monday, 29 July
Final: Teams TBA - 6:00 AM (IST)
Major League Cricket 2024 teams and players
Los Angeles Knight Riders - Sunil Narine (c), Saif Badar, Unmukt Chand, Derone Davis, Corné Dry, Adithya Ganesh, Spencer Johnson, Ali Khan, Nitish Kumar, Jason Roy, Andre Russell, Matthew Tromp, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Adam Zampa, Shakib Al Hasan, David Miller, Joshua Little, Waqar Salamkheil, Alex Carey, Chaitanya Bishnoi.
MI New York - Kieron Pollard (c), Ehsan Adil, Trent Boult, Dewald Brevis, Ruben Clinton, Tim David, Shayan Jahangir, Nosthush Kenjige, Rashid Khan, Anrich Nortje, Monank Patel, Nicholas Pooran, Kagiso Rabada, Heath Richards, Romario Shepherd, Steven Taylor, Rushil Ugarkar, Sunny Patel.
San Francisco Unicorns - Corey Anderson (c), Pat Cummins, Finn Allen, Brody Couch, Karima Gore, Jahmar Hamilton, Hassan Khan, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Carmi le Roux, Liam Plunkett, Haris Rauf, Matthew Short, Tajinder Singh, Josh Inglis, Matt Henry, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sherfane Rutherford, Abrar Ahmed.
Seattle Orcas - Wayne Parnell (c), Nauman Anwar, Hammad Azam, Michael Bracewell, Nandre Burger, Quinton de Kock, Ayan Desai, Cameron Gannon, Shehan Jayasuriya, Heinrich Klaasen, Shubham Ranjane, Ali Sheikh, Harmeet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Imad Wasim, Ryan Rickelton, Lance Morris, Obed McCoy, Aaron Jones.
Texas Super Kings - Faf du Plessis (c), Dwayne Bravo, Devon Conway, Aaron Hardie, Milind Kumar, Aiden Markram, Daryl Mitchell, Noor Ahmad, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Mohammad Mohsin, Raj Nannan, Mitchell Santner, Calvin Savage, Zia Shahzad, Cameron Stevenson, Joshua Tromp, Zia-ul-Haq, Naveen ul-Haq, Marcus Stoinis.
Washington Freedom - Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Andries Gous, Lockie Ferguson, Andrew Tye, Jack Edwards, Saurabh Netravalkar, Obus Pienaar, Rachin Ravindra, Mukhtar Ahmed, Amila Aponso, Akhilesh Bodugum, Justin Dill, Ian Holland, Akeal Hosein, Marco Jansen, Lahiru Milantha, Yasir Mohammad
Photo credit: Alamy
