The first-ever Minor League Cricket Draft has been successfully completed last week, and two additional franchise squads have been announced: the DC Hawks and the New England Eagles.
These franchises have completed the player selections for their own regions, thus 17 of the 24 teams are now confirmed to participate in the inaugural season of Minor League Cricket (MiLC).
Trevon Griffith
More than 2,400 players had registered for the Draft through the Player Registration Process, and 306 of those were selected as part of the 17 MiLC teams whose squads were finalised for the first time.
Every Minor League Cricket franchise team includes one wildcard professional player, two domestic professional players, and a minimum of three under-21 players.
The inaugural season of Minor League Cricket will commence in the Spring 2021, but there are plans for “franchise exhibition matches” to be held in September and October 2020. Those would be held in jurisdictions where playing recreational sports has been deemed safe.
Gajanand Singh
Several Team USA players have been drafted, including Team USA Captain Saurabh Netravalkar, who will line up for the Golden State Grizzlies. He will face off against teammates Monank and Timil Patel and Elmore Hutchinson, who will play for the Hollywood Master Blasters in the Western Conference.
Over on the eastern coast, Aaron Jones, Xavier Marshall and Akshay Homraj have all been signed by the New Jersey Somerset Cavaliers; while quick bowler Ali Khan, who had been a member of the Trinbago Knight Riders in the recently-concluded Caribbean Premier League, is a stand-out signing for the Houston Hurricanes in the Central Conference.
Steven Taylor will head south to play for the Atlanta Param Veers in the Southern Conference.
Derick Narine
Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan of Minor League Cricket have been delighted with the success of the draft.
“We would like to congratulate all players drafted as well as the 17 teams that have now completed their squad selections. In spite of the significant challenges that 2020 has presented to teams, we are very pleased with the outcome of the inaugural Minor League Cricket Draft. It represents a significant achievement that the majority of our franchises now have full squads selected, and we will continue to work with our teams and the relevant regional authorities to determine when Exhibition Matches will be possible during 2020.
“We would also like to thank everyone in the American cricket community for their interest and support in establishing Minor League Cricket. The strong amount of interest from both the Northwest region around Seattle and New York has meant that we are actively looking at options to accommodate an additional franchise in each of these regions ahead of the inaugural season next year, and others may eventuate to meet demand.”
Assad Fudadin
The Chicago Blasters and Chicago Catchers from the Central Conference have drafted their squads in a regional draft that was held on September 10th, while the Michigan Cricket Stars will select a team of registered players from within their selection zone. This regional draft will be covered on USA Cricket’s social media channels.
The remaining three Florida-based franchises currently await a regional draft date, which is yet to be confirmed.
The owners of the Florida franchises met with Minor League Cricket last week, and continue to stay in close contact to finalise a potential draft date and schedule. Given fluidity of the COVID-19 situation across the country, Minor League Cricket is taking a pragmatic approach and is actively working with owners to ensure a fair process for all 24 teams.
Christopher Vantull
“USA Cricket is delighted with the progress that has been made with Minor League Cricket in these challenging times over the recent months,” said USA Cricket Board Member and Chair of the ACE Relations Committee, Suraj Viswanathan.
“In particular, we want to acknowledge the successful delivery of the inaugural Minor League Cricket Draft, and congratulate all players who were selected in what is a real landmark development for the sport.
“USA Cricket is committed to developing Minor League Cricket in close partnership with American Cricket Enterprises. This tournament will become a critical component of the player development pathway that ultimately leads to the USA T20 national team and squad selection, with player performance in Minor League Cricket to be closely monitored by the Men’s National Selection Panel”, it was related.
“But it isn’t just about developing a clear player pathway. Over recent months and through a robust and objective process, a diverse group of passionate owners has been identified and engaged, all of whom have bought into the bigger vision for the sport in this country.
“To that end, owners have signed up to obligations to contribute to the growth of the cricketing ecosystem in their respective communities, through which we will create a lasting legacy for cricket in their regions and across America.”
The Eastern Conference consists of a total of 6 squads, which contain a number of Guyanese players.
