Star Australian batter Steve Smith would be playing in the United States next year following some ‘secret talks’ with the top brass of upcoming feature in an American T20 League, called the Major League Cricket (MLC). The inaugural edition of the tournament gets underway this year in July with six teams participating. However, Smith won’t be available this year as the MLC 2023 will clash with the Ashes series.
According to a Fox Sports report, referring to News Corp, the former Australia captain is in talks with the MLC bosses for his appearance in the next year’s edition.
“We’ve been in touch with Steve about his plans and what he’s thinking,” MLC co-founder Sameer Mehta told News Corp.
“What he’d love to do at some point is play cricket in the US as his schedule permits. His view was that if he could make it work and if we could make it work – I know this season, he has commitments. I don’t know what the Australian calendar is next year but I believe there is enough space for him to potentially play,” he added.
About the Major League Cricket
The first-ever American cricket league will comprise six franchises that have received financial support from Indian businessmen and celebrities. As reported by Fox Sports, a huge amount of AU$174 million has been invested by the likes of Satya Nardella, Microsoft chief, and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.
The Six Franchises
The six participating teams are based out of Seattle, New York City, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Dallas and San Francisco. Each team has a salary cap of $1.5 million to secure of 18 players with a maximum of 7 foreign players.
Cricket NSW announced a strategic partnership with MLC last week which would allow the American cricketers to feature in NSW Premier Cricket and Australian players to participate in the American T20 tournament.
“With the global cricket landscape currently undergoing a significant transition, we view the United States as a market with immense growth potential,” CNSW chief executive Lee Germon said in a statement.
“Cricket NSW’s track record in high-performance cricket and elite match operations is second to none and we believe we can bring a raft of experience to MLC and the Washington D.C. franchise in the coming years,” he added.
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