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Only seven American-born players were picked at the draft, suggesting the league may be located in the USA but it’s not happening for the USA

Peter Della Penna24-Mar-2023On Sunday night at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, all sorts of questions could be explored walking around this wondrous complex dedicated to the history and future of space exploration. On entering, to the left, visitors couldn’t have missed a prominent exhibit dedicated to the new Artemis shuttle program which launched last November. Who might be the first woman to walk on the moon, one might ask? How many years until an astronaut lands on Mars?By the end of that evening’s Major League Cricket (MLC) player draft, conducted at the sprawling facility, a different question took center stage. One that might even stump NASA’s astrophysicists and rocket scientists: What is a local cricketer in the MLC?Judging by the list of 54 players chosen in the draft (for domestic players) it’s entirely possible that if you asked any of the hundreds of people present, you might not be able to get two people to give the same answer.Most coaches, players and fans within the USA have been sold the premise that the MLC is going to provide new opportunities for American players to aid their development by allowing them to play with and against some of the world’s elite stars. That was highlighted by the announcement of the first six international signings unveiled on draft night, headlined by Aaron Finch, Mitchell Marsh and Quinton de Kock.Related

• Major League Cricket's conundrum: who exactly is an American player?

• MI New York unveil Rashid, Boult and Rabada in star-studded MLC squad

• Russell, Narine, Roy and Ferguson join Knight Riders in Los Angeles for MLC

• MLC start under threat after dispute between organisers and USA Cricket

• Fleming to coach Texas Super Kings

But when it came to the drafting, a steady stream of messages and social media posts highlighted both the excitement and at times dismay as to who plays as a “local” player alongside those stars. In the first round, three USA national team players were drafted: Steven Taylor, Ali Khan and Rusty Theron. All three have had very different journeys to play for USA.Taylor was born and raised in Florida. He is USA’s all-time leading scorer in T20Is and once flirted with playing for the West Indies by using his parents’ Jamaican heritage. He was briefly even contracted with Jamaica’s first-class team in 2017. He turned a standout knock of 88 off 71 balls in the 2017 CWI Super50 semi-final into a $30,000 contract with Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL, making him the highest paid American player in a T20 franchise league at the time. The $75,000 slot he’ll get for being the third overall pick by MI New York is not only two-and-a-half times what he got in the CPL, but nearly as much as he got in 2019 as one of USA’s first centrally contracted players. Except, that was for 12 months’ work compared to sweating out as few as five match days during MLC.Khan was born in Pakistan, moved with his family to Ohio at the age of 18 and became a naturalized citizen in 2015. That was well before he debuted for USA in 2016 and turned into a regular on the global T20 franchise circuit in the summer of 2018. But his pathway to fifth overall pick by Los Angeles Knight Riders was destined once he had been part of the Knight Riders set-ups in the CPL, IPL, and ILT20.Theron grew up in and represented South Africa before retiring and seeking out a university degree in education in Florida. His stay was meant to be temporary until he met his wife, got married and got back into cricket on the US club scene. After qualifying under the ICC’s three-year residency criteria, he was eventually picked for a USA debut in 2019.Elsewhere in the first round, Corey Anderson was drafted by San Francisco Unicorns. He retired from international cricket several years ago and migrated to Texas just ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic to be nearer to his then fiancée and now wife’s family. He has also met the three-year residency threshold to be eligible to play for USA. Liam Plunkett and Shehan Jayasuriya, both drafted in the second round, have also decided to settle in the USA over the last two years, through marriage.In different ways, these journeys paint a picture of a cricket league’s spin on the American dream, especially for a kid growing up in Texas wanting to be the next Taylor or Khan: “Hey kid, you can make an honest living as a professional cricketer right here in America.” As when 20-year-old Dallas native Ali Sheikh, who has played for USA Under-19, but is yet to get a senior team cap, was taken in the sixth round for $25,000. That’s not such a bad part-time summer job for a college student at the University of Texas at Dallas. If he does well enough, it’ll come off more like a summer internship leading to a full-time cricket job post-grad.Franchises gathered inside NASA Space Center Houston for the MLC Draft•Peter Della PennaHowever, snaking through the rest of the draft, that dream started to get fuzzier. The lack of USA national team qualified players selected became increasingly hard to ignore, or the lack of outright American citizens. This was, after all, a draft for local players. Following the selection of Taylor third overall, it took until the fourth round for a second American-born player to be picked: Nosthush Kenjige 22nd overall pick, joining Taylor at MI New York.But a pick which drew much more scrutiny came one selection earlier when Chaitanya Bishnoi was taken by San Francisco Unicorns. In a media release issued by MLC on March 6 to highlight the shortlist of 102 players in the draft pool – including 56 who were divided into four teams for a T20 quadrangular played in front of coaches and scouts from the six MLC franchises – there was no mention of Bishnoi, a 28-year-old journeyman from Delhi who at one time was in the Chennai Super Kings squad but never made it to a starting XI. As recently as January, Bishnoi was suiting up for Haryana in the Ranji Trophy. Instead, there was a ‘Chetan Bish’, presumably Bishnoi’s Clark Kent alter ego who had left India at the start of March, rocked up to Houston and was deemed a “local” player.When Bishnoi walked up on stage to collect his new Unicorns cap in the tradition of American drafts and pose for a photo with tournament director Justin Geale, there were smiles on the dais mixed with the pained grins of several USA squad players in the crowd. Many of those without a central contract who live paycheck to paycheck, along with their peers currently on an ODI tour in Namibia, wound up undrafted while Bishnoi was fetching a $40,000 purse designated for fourth-round picks.When asked for their definition of “local”, an MLC official said: “A player needs to demonstrate that they will hold a ‘qualified visa’, have established their ‘primary and permanent residence’ in the US, and will continue to satisfy the ICC’s guideline regarding ten out of 12 months for three consecutive years.” That may be a reasonable definition but satisfying all three statutes after spending a handful of days in the country strains credulity, especially since Bishnoi was specifically described in MLC documents as a “player currently transitioning to eligible visa to be classified as domestic player”. There is also a subtle but important difference in the language used by MLC, giving the green light to players who “will” pledge to stay in the USA for three years, versus the ICC guideline requiring non-citizen players to have already lived in the USA for three years.To be fair, Bishnoi was not the only one that MLC appears to have flexed their domestic player statute for, though he is the only one to bizarrely alter his name upon arrival. Mukhtar Ahmed and Saif Badar, 30 and 24 respectively, also arrived at the 11th hour into Texas for the quadrangular T20s held the week before the draft, having been part of the Pakistan domestic set-up during the 2022-23 season. Mukhtar went in the second round for $65,000 and Badar in round seven for $15,000.USA players on the fringe of being drafted might have been able to reconcile this if they saw the “local player” criteria being massaged to accommodate, say, Virat Kohli. But many people in US cricket circles are struggling to understand why MLC officials were so desperate to shoehorn a trio of fairly obscure names into the draft who will not move the needle one bit when it comes to marketing exposure, ticket sales or TV ratings.In the end, players with deep ties to the national team were few and far between among draft selections. Only seven American-born players (13% of the picks) were chosen, including four in the Under-23 development category. Though there is a requirement to have an Under-23 player in each squad, there’s no mandate to play them in the XI. It means that realistically, only three franchises may have a solitary American-born player in their starting XI of the 66 players who will make their MLC debut from July 13.Players with deep ties to the USA national team were few and far between among the MLC draft selections•Peter Della PennaSeparate from that, there is miniscule representation of USA national team players on the whole. Only 15 out of the 54 picks were players who have been capped for the senior or Under-19 teams. When all the overseas signings are finalised, it means that at best an average of two USA players will be in any squad.This is in stark contrast to, as a relevant example, the UAE’s ILT20. Though nine overseas players were allowed in any starting XI, organisers mandated that each squad pick four UAE-qualified players and two in every starting XI. MLC will allow six overseas players in their starting XI, yet their malleable definition of “local” – along with no mandate to specifically pick a minimum number of USA-qualified players – means that there may be numerous matches where not a single USA national team player takes the field.The glowing exception is MI New York. Despite their stubbornly goofy branding in tagging Mumbai into the name of every domestic city-based franchise they have a stake in, MI New York has the most American flavour by far. They used six of their nine draft picks – double the next best – on USA squad players. That’s thanks in large part to former USA head coach J Arunkumar in their backroom. If he thought the quality of a USA player was no good, he could easily have ignored his former charges. Instead, he has vouched for their quality. If that many are good enough for MI New York, why not other teams?At the other end, Washington Freedom and San Francisco Unicorns only took one USA squad member each. Meanwhile, a total of 22 current or former USA squad members at junior or senior level went undrafted out of the final pool of 102 players. The snubs include the three batting heroes of USA’s first ever T20I win over a Full Member nation in December 2021 against Ireland: Sushant Modani, Gajanand Singh and Marty Kain. That kind of unbalanced equation gives off the impression that while the league may be located in the USA, it may not necessarily be happening for the USA.Amid reminders of Neil Armstrong’s historic walk on the moon, the ability for current or former overseas stars to cash in some American greenbacks on the T20 circuit took a giant leap for cricketkind on Sunday night. Yet, a much smaller step was taken to advance vital cricket playing ambitions and opportunities for the ‘local’ man.

West Indies’ new wicketkeeper talks about advice from Ross Taylor, bubble life, and his top-secret goals

Mohammad Isam27-Jan-2021Joshua Da Silva refused to take an easy single through square-leg when he was on 49 on his Test debut. It was off the first ball of the over. West Indies required 36 runs to make New Zealand bat again with only two wickets in hand. At the other end was No. 10 Chemar Holder, a fellow debutant who Da Silva didn’t want to expose to Trent Boult for five deliveries.It surprised those watching Da Silva’s impressive innings, even Ross Taylor, who made it a point to walk from the slips to remind the young batsman what was at stake.”A few moments later, Ross Taylor comes up to me and says, ‘Josh, it’s a Test fifty. Get that run and whatever else happens after that, then you do it. Don’t be a hero’. I’m like alright, no problem,” narrates Da Silva on his YouTube channel.Da Silva eventually reached the milestone, the first by a West Indian debutant in five years. Refusing the single was a notable sacrifice for a 22-year-old batsman who knew that a debut Test fifty goes a long way in cementing a Test spot. But these moments give a window into the cricketer’s mindset, that even on debut, the thought of protecting the tail-ender and prolonging the team’s innings should have precedence over a personal achievement.Da Silva has faced several such small, but meaningful, challenges in his short cricket career, that began with the decision to choose cricket over football. After making it into the Trinidad and Tobago Under-19s side, Da Silva was sent on the Kieron Pollard scholarship to play club cricket in England.A year-and-a-half later and a few pounds lighter, Da Silva broke into the T&T first-class and one-day sides, before getting on the plane to England again, this time as West Indies’ reserve player on their tour last year.A century in one of the practice matches got him further notice. When Shane Dowrich got injured during the third day of the Manchester Test, Da Silva, donning a white hat, was sent on as substitute wicketkeeper.”It all happened so quickly,” Da Silva told ESPNcricinfo. “Dow got hit and coach told me I may have to go out there. To him, I said ‘no problem, just let me know’, but on the inside, I couldn’t believe it was real. Am I really going out there? It’s a moment I will never forget.”Having met these challenges, da Silva earned a place in both West Indies’ Test and ODI squads on their tour to Bangladesh. It hasn’t started well for Da Silva, who was out for 14 and 9 in the first two ODIs, before Jahmar Hamilton replaced him in the third game.Da Silva made his debut on the New Zealand tour but already seems a frontrunner•Getty ImagesBut he remains their primary wicketkeeper-batsman choice in the Test side, which is a new responsibility for the youngster. He is spending a lot of time in the nets, as well as speaking regularly to coach Phil Simmons and batting coach Monty Desai.”Definitely it’s a new challenge for me, playing in Bangladesh, but I’m really excited to take what I have been learning in training into the matches. The pitches are slower and spin a lot more, but I don’t think that much needs to change.”It’s just about putting in the work before the games and getting accustomed to the conditions. We have been talking a bit (about batting in the sub-continent), but mostly with the batting coach, Monty Desai and getting the knowledge he has from playing in these conditions,” he said.While Simmons has helped calm down the young Da Silva, former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams has also guided him from an early age.”Both (Simmons and Adams) have been a huge help to me. During the last Super 50, Jimmy told me that the only currency in cricket is runs. That really stuck with me. He still checks up on me from time to time.”Coach Phil, ever since I came into the set up, has made me feel like I belong. That does a huge part in motivating me and helps me to play with a calm mind,” he said.Da Silva’s hard work was also observed by Roddy Estwick, the West Indies assistant coach and a veteran who has seen the progress of many young cricketers from the Caribbean. He said that Da Silva must realise quickly that the opposition will do research on him even though he is just one Test old.”Josh is very hard working. He wants to play cricket. He is always asking questions, and looking for information,” Estwick said. “He is always looking to improve. He has made a very good start, but that’s only a start. He got a fifty in the second innings in his Test debut in New Zealand. He will now have to continue to work.”The same way we analyse the opposition, they do that to us as well. We have to make sure that when we stay a step ahead of the opposition, you have to keep working. You can’t sit back and relax on your laurels. But knowing Josh, he is very hard working. So once he stays focused and disciplined, he should be a good find for us,” said Estwick.Da Silva understood what he would need to do to become an international cricketer during the tour of England last year. Then later in New Zealand, he had to face one of the best fast bowling attacks in the world, in their backyard, which turned out to be another eye-opening experience.”It’s a huge jump. The work load, intensity and competitiveness is on another level and just shows me how much more I need to do to have a long, successful career.”[The Test debut] felt surreal for the duration of the match and for days after. However, it was a good challenge. I faced some of the best bowlers in the business. I just wanted to bat long and do well for the team.He takes inspiration from watching Steven Smith’s good and bad days, and how the Australian sticks to his work ethic regardless of his performance. “Right now, I look at Steve Smith a lot. He shows how hard work pays off and why you should never stop grinding. Even when he fails, he just continues to trust the process and tries again. That is very inspiring,” said Da Silva.Part of that process in the last ten months for international cricketers has been to manage themselves in bio-secure bubbles. On his third tour, Da Silva is feeling the mental pinch of the long, often lonely grind.”This is my third bubble and honestly, it doesn’t get any easier. It’s not too bad when cricket is being played, but the quarantine periods are tough. Even training days, when the only thing to do is train and go back to your room, it is quite challenging mentally,” he said.But it is also a year of opportunities for West Indies’ players, with several series coming up, and with rotation now a necessity. By scoring runs regularly and by offering stability behind the stumps, Da Silva hopes to have a better year.”By the end of 2021, I’d like to cement a place in the West Indies squad and to have achieved some other goals, which I won’t reveal at this time. I want to have a long career wearing the beautiful maroon,” he said.

“We have an edge on this wicket. We’ve played two games here. Australia has not played any. But they have a lot of experienced players who have played cricket in most countries. The way they assess the game is better.” It was a pretty telling statement from Sidra Amin, ahead of Pakistan’s World Cup clash against Australia – an opponent they’ve never beaten before.While Pakistan have lost both matches they’ve played in Colombo, to Bangladesh and India, the prevailing school of thought is that the slowish conditions – ones that Australia are yet to experience at this tournament – might help bridge the gap between the two teams. But only slightly.”They have played all over the world. They know the conditions better,” Amin said. “They play the WBBLs and the Hundreds, and come and play in Asian conditions as well. They take preparation very seriously. I’ve heard they prepare for Asian conditions with indoor sessions with the temperature up to 35-40 degrees [Celsius]. So they can train that way as well.”Related

• Winless Pakistan have uphill task of facing near-invincible Australia

While women’s cricket has grown dramatically over the past few years, it’s grown faster for some than others. This discrepancy, in part, stems from the calibre of competition each side gets to face.In the three and a half years since the 2022 World Cup, Australia have actually played two fewer ODIs than Pakistan – 32 compared to 34. However, of those 32 games, 15 have come against India and England – among the tougher challenges in world cricket. Pakistan have played only four games against those two – seven if you include Australia themselves.Ellyse Perry: I think we all go out with the same approach, and that’s to be really positive•ICC/Getty Images

Beyond this, once you dive into the importance of a strong domestic structure, you begin to see clearly how Australia have evolved over the years. A point not lost on Ellyse Perry who, having debuted in 2007, has been part of two ODI World Cup-winning sides and has seen first-hand the fruits of investing in the women’s game.”I think we’re incredibly lucky,” she said. “We’ve got wonderful support back home in terms of the programmes that we’ve got. We’ve got a full-time domestic structure that breeds great depth in Australian cricket. We’re a cricket nation too that loves playing the game. So we’ve always, throughout history, had wonderful players.”And I think as a group, we love the challenge of continuing to find new ways to get better. You know, there’s so much competition in the global landscape now. I think all the advent of the franchise leagues around the world has just grown the depth of women’s cricket.”In that context, the confidence that Perry gave off when analysing how an aggressive batting unit such as Australia’s would play on a not-so-batting-friendly surface like the one in Colombo was unsurprising.”I think we have a conversation with our batting group, which we’re quite fortunate to have some depth in. So for us, and it’s something that we’ve discussed a lot over the last 12 months, is how we use that depth. It’s never going to be everyone’s day on the same day. Quite possibly it might just be one person’s day.”But I think we all go out with the same approach, and that’s to be really positive, but also really adaptable and smart to whatever the game’s presenting, whether that’s conditions or the opposition. I think there’s a blueprint there that applies to anywhere that you play, and then you’ve just got to be adaptable all day.”

He took three of the remaining four India wickets that India had when they arrived on Friday morning on 204 for 6

Vithushan Ehantharajah01-Aug-2025

Gus Atkinson finished with a five-for•PA Photos/Getty Images

Gus Atkinson’s fourth five-wicket haul helped England make light work of what remained of India’s first innings of the fifth Test, dismissing them for 224.Atkinson’s 5 for 33 upon his return to the XI after two months out was all the more important after news this morning that Chris Woakes would play no further part in the match after a suspected dislocated shoulder sustained in the field last evening. And the Surrey quick, on his home ground, took three of the remaining four wickets that India had up their sleeve when they arrived on Friday morning on 204 for 6.It was Josh Tongue who made the first key incision, albeit with a choatic approach that would get any surgeon struck off. His first over, opening from the Vauxhall End, went for nine, but he was able to remove Karun Nair for 57 in his second. A sharp delivery that nipped into the stumps – Nair no doubt expected something short and wide either side of them – pinned the right-hander on the back leg. Plumb in front, Nair took one of India’s three reviews with him.Washington Sundar should have assumed the responsibility at that point as an elongated tail became exposed, but he fell five deliveries later, waltzing into a short ball trap, heaving Atkinson to deep square leg, where Jamie Overton sprinted in to take a smart catch.Atkinson would then skittle Mohammed Siraj before Prasidh Krishna felt for a delivery outside off, completing a collapse of four for six in 18 balls. This is now the lowest first innings total of the series. The previous lowest was India’s 358 at Manchester.Atkinson now boasts an average of 21, the fourth best for an England seamer with fifty or more dismissals, and the second best strike rate, ever, at 34.9, for those who have taken 60 wickets.

Centuries from Sam Northeast and Colin Ingram saw Glamorgan save the draw in batting-friendly conditions in their Rothesay County Championship second division match against Leicestershire at the UptonSteel County Ground.The experienced pair put together a partnership of 225, a fourth-wicket record for Glamorgan against the Foxes. Northeast, who made 410 not out on this ground three years ago, now holds three different wicket record partnerships for Glamorgan against Leicestershire.Leicestershire remain well clear at the top of the second division after taking 16 points from the game, with Glamorgan taking 13 points and remaining third in the table, the result of the match between Gloucestershire and Derbyshire at Bristol notwithstanding.Resuming with the score on 131 for 3, Northeast and Ingram continued to bat in exactly the same manner which had seen them bat through the final session on day three, which is to say with the calm assurance that comes when from facing a softish ball on an benign pitch baked into submission by three days of hot sun and warm wind.Leicestershire’s bowlers stuck at their task, bowling straight and making the batsmen play, but struggled to flog any sort of response from the pitch, with the bat being beaten perhaps three times over the two hour period. Ingram, 37 not out overnight, went to his half-century off 121 deliveries, Northeast reaching his century off 186 deliveries, 11 of which he hit to the boundary.The new ball, eagerly – perhaps desperately – anticipated by the Leicestershire faithful – made little difference, initially at any rate, but Northeast, on 139, finally lost patience and tried to loft the left-arm spin of Trevaskis to the long-on boundary. He didn’t get all of it and Sam Wood, at 20 making his first first-class appearance of the season, sprinted back from mid-on and took an outstanding catch as the ball dropped over his shoulder.Ingram was unmoved, proceeding serenely to his century – also a second of the season – off 246 deliveries, but had a remarkable escape on 103 when he pulled a Ben Green delivery hard and high to the square leg boundary. A leaping Logan van Beek made the catch as he fell backwards over the rope, lobbing the ball back into play as he did so, but over-balanced as he tried to step back over the rope, had to knock the ball up again, and diving forward, could not hold the ball at the third attempt.Glamorgan did lose Ben Kellaway, top-edging an attempted pull at Green to give Wood a more straightward catch on the leg-side, and Ingram, then on 121, may have had another escape in the over before tea, when Leicestershire were convinced he had been caught at short leg off Trevaskis. Umpire Rob White disagreed.One more wicket was to fall, Rishi Patel seeing Chris Cooke push his leg-side delivery firmly but straight at Sol Budinger at short leg, who held on at the second attempt. It was Patel’s maiden first class wicket. At the close Ingram remained unbeaten on 133, having faced 308 deliveries, an impressive effort on the part of the 39-year-old South African. Like Northeast, he seems to enjoy batting against Leicestershire, having made his career-best 257 not out against the Foxes at Cardiff last year.

Veteran allrounder brings valuable experience to Trent Bridge following the loss of Alex Hales

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Feb-2025Australian allrounder Moises Henriques has joined Notts Outlaws for the 2025 Vitality Blast.Henriques, who has made 10 appearances in the competition for Surrey across two stints, the most recent coming in 2017, has been capped 44 times for his country, with the majority (24) coming in T20Is.The 38-year old brings a wealth of experience, with 282 matches in the T20 format. As Sydney Sixers captain, he has led his side to two Big Bash League titles, and is the leading appearance maker in Australia’s domestic competition, as well as being the fourth highest runscorer in its history.A stalwart of the global franchise scene, Henriques has featured in nine editions of the Indian Premier League, and played a prominent role in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s triumph in 2016. He has also won the now-defunct T20 Champions League twice with New South Wales.”I can’t wait to get over to Nottingham this season to play in the Blast,” Henriques said. “Trent Bridge is an iconic cricket ground and I’m looking forward to playing in front of their amazing crowds.”On a personal note, I’ve made some great friends over the years with both past players and staff from Notts and their values as people I’m sure represent their time there, which I can’t wait to experience.”Notts have had a lot of success over the last decade and I’ll be looking to add to that. The current squad looks extremely talented and young and hopefully with my experiences of T20 cricket around the world I can add a bit of value to the group both on and off the field.”Henriques will fill Outlaws’ second overseas spot, joining fellow Australian Daniel Sams, and is a welcome boost following the news that veteran opener Alex Hales will skip the English season to take up franchise opportunities overseas during the summer.Nottinghamshire finished bottom of the North Group in 2024, and have not made the latter stages of the T20 Blast since winning it for the second time in 2020.”Moises’s experience and quality as a player will add a huge amount to our squad, while he’ll be another leader in the group,” said head coach Peter Moores. “His reputation as a captain precedes him. He’ll provide great support for Joe (Clarke) as he continues to grow into that role.”His ability to negotiate a run chase or set a score with the bat has been well proven over the years, providing experience and stability in a new look batting line up. Crucially he’s used to playing in a winning set up, which is exactly the mentality we’re looking to build as we move forward as a team.”