Stars of world cricket gather in Houston for Major League Cricket pre-season camp

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Dozens of the top domestic players in the United States have gathered in Houston for the first Major League Cricket (MLC) pre-season camp, with overseas stars set to arrive later in the week. The new 7,200 cricket-specific venue in the Dallas-area will see 12 matches in what MLC called “the groundbreaking American professional cricket championship,” running from July 13 to July 30, a press release from MLC (majorleaguecricket.com), said.

The MLC announced July 3, 2023, that the Lone Star State’s own Texas Super Kings and the five other MLC teams, the Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas and Washington Freedom, will practice across two venues in the Houston area through July 12, the day before the landmark first MLC match to be played in North Texas at Grand Prairie Stadium.

The six teams will use the MLC National Cricket Center at Prairie View Cricket Complex west of Houston and Moosa Stadium, an accredited One Day International venue, south of Houston, the press release said.

Major League Cricket will feature top international talent playing alongside America’s best players for the Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings and Washington Freedom.

The inaugural season will be played in a round-robin format starting July 13, with the four best performing teams competing in a multi-game playoff and final round to decide a champion, to be crowned on July 30.

Among the well-known players are India’s Ambati Rayudu and New Zealand’s Trent Boult, Afghanistan T20 captain Rashid Khan, South African internationals Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock and David Miller, West Indians Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo, Australians Marcus Stoinis and Aaron Finch, England’s Jason Roy and Liam Plunkett, Sri Lankans Wanindu Hasaranga and Dasun Shanaka.

Earlier in a June 29 press release, the MLC said its inaugural match of Thursday, July 13   would take place “under the floodlights and accompanied by pageantry, fireworks, aerial acrobatics and a custom drone show”  in the sky above Grand Prairie Stadium in the Dallas area for Major League Cricket’s inaugural match. Fans can purchase the limited seats remaining at tickets.majorleaguecricket.com, starting at only $30.

The hometown Texas Super Kings will host the Los Angeles Knight Riders for the match starting at 7:30 p.m. Central Time, with both teams providing branded team giveaways to fans on the occasion. Pre-game pageantry will include a National Anthem performance to be accompanied by members of the Grand Prairie Police and Fire Departments holding a giant American flag on the field during the National Anthem and flags to be presented by the Grand Prairie Police Color Guard.

An acrobatic aerial display will feature a GB1 GameBird for fans pre-game. During the innings break, a 12-minute drone show produced by Sky Elements, will showcase the arrival of the six new teams competing in Major League Cricket with their logos animated in the sky along with additional elements “celebrating the first night of a new era in American cricket.”

Following the conclusion of the match, fireworks will provide the finale for Grand Prairie Stadium’s opening night, the press release said.