| 2023 Major League Cricket season | |
| Fromdate: | 13 |
| Todate: | 30 July 2023 |
| Administrator: | American Cricket Enterprises USA Cricket |
| Cricket Format: | Twenty20 |
| Tournament Format: | Round-robin and play-offs |
| Host: |  United States |
| Champions: | MI New York (1st title) |
| Runner Up: | Seattle Orcas |
| Participants: | 6 |
| Matches: | 19 |
| Attendance: | 70000 |
| Player Of The Series: | Nicholas Pooran (MI New York) |
| Most Runs: | Nicholas Pooran (MI New York) (388) |
| Most Wickets: | Trent Boult (MI New York) (22) |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Next Tournament: | 2024 Major League Cricket season |
The 2023 Major League Cricket season (also known as MLC 2023) was the inaugural season of Major League Cricket,[1] a franchise Twenty20 cricket league established in 2019 by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) in the United States.[2] The season was hosted at two venues, Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas and Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina.[3] The season was played from 13 to 30 July 2023,[4] with MI New York defeating the Seattle Orcas by seven wickets to win the inaugural title.[5] [6]
The tournament surpassed expectations financially, generating a reported $8 million in revenue.[7] The tournament also garnered positive and optimistic outlooks on the future of cricket in the United States.[8] [9]
Major League Cricket announced in November 2022 that its inaugural season would be played at Grand Prairie Stadium starting July 13 and concluding July 30.[10] MLC also revealed that the tournament would be played in a single round-robin format with fifteen league matches played among six franchises before a four-match play-off phase.[11] [12]
In March 2023, the teams for the tournament were announced ahead of the league's inaugural draft—called the Texas Super Kings, the Seattle Orcas, the Los Angeles Knight Riders, the Washington Freedom, the MI New York and the San Francisco Unicorns, respectively.[13] [14] The draft for the season was then held on March 19, with Harmeet Singh being picked first overall and Aaron Finch and Quinton de Kock among others highlighting the draft.[15] [16] In the buildup to the season opener, teams signed multiple other players including Jason Roy, Adam Zampa and Moises Henriques.[17]
In April, USA Cricket—the governing body of cricket in the United States—officially sanctioned the tournament following a dispute with tournament organizers, American Cricket Enterprises, that threatened to delay the launch of MLC.[18] [19] Tournament fixtures were announced on June 12—nearly two months later.[20] [21] In addition, it also revealed that the tournament would be held at two venues, Grand Prairie Stadium and Church Street Park for the group stage,[22] [23] while all play-off matches and the final would be held at Grand Prairie Stadium. Tickets for the matches were also made available on the same day.[24]
Teams were announced by MLC in March 2023, with team coaches and captains being announced in the months following.[14]
| Franchise | Head coach | Captain |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Knight Riders | Phil Simmons | Sunil Narine |
| MI New York | Robin Peterson | Kieron Pollard |
| San Francisco Unicorns | Shane Watson | Aaron Finch |
| Seattle Orcas | Pravin Amre | Wayne Parnell |
| Texas Super Kings | Stephen Fleming | Faf du Plessis |
| Washington Freedom | Greg Shipperd | Moises Henriques |
See main article: 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft.
A minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 19 players could be selected by the teams with a maximum of nine overseas players. The teams could select nine local players in the draft and another one as a wildcard. All teams released their squads ahead of the start of the season.[25] [26]
Matches were held at two venues: Grand Prairie's Grand Prairie Stadium, with a capacity of 7,000 (expandable to 15,000) and Morrisville, North Carolina's Church Street Park, with a capacity of 3,500.
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See main article: 2023 Major League Cricket final.
| Team | Innings | Runs | High score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Pooran | MI New York | 8 | 388 | 137 |
| Quinton de Kock | 7 | 264 | 88 | |
| Heinrich Klaasen | 6 | 235 | 110 | |
| Devon Conway | 7 | 221 | 74 | |
| Tim David | MI New York | 7 | 209 | 53 |
| Team | Matches | Wickets | Best bowling | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Boult | MI New York | 8 | 22 | 4/20 | |
| Cameron Gannon | Seattle Orcas | 7 | 11 | 4/23 | |
| Andrew Tye | 7 | 11 | 3/32 | ||
| Imad Wasim | 7 | 10 | 2/23 | ||
| Saurabh Netravalkar | Washington Freedom | 6 | 10 | 6/9 |
On July 28, 2023, a list of end of season awards was announced.[32]
| Team | Award | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Pooran | MI New York | Most Valuable Player | |
| Nicholas Pooran | MI New York | Leading run scorer | |
| Trent Boult | MI New York | Leading wicket taker | |
| Cameron Gannon | Seattle Orcas | Domestic Player of the Series |
In July 2023, Major League Cricket (MLC) announced that its inaugural season will be broadcast live in major cricketing nations.[33]
| Television channel | Internet streaming applications | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| India[34] [35] | Sports18 | JioCinema | |
| United States & Canada[36] | Willow TV Sling TV (Select matches) CBS Sports (Select matches) | ||
| Australia[37] | Fox Cricket | ||
| Pakistan[38] | A Sports |