Cricket stars gather in Houston for MLC pre-season camp

DALLAS: 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 Lone Star State’s own Texas Super Kings and the five other MLC teams — 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 utilise the MLC National Cricket Center at Prairie View Cricket Complex.

MLC will feature top-class international talent playing alongside America’s best players in the tournament. The inaugural season will be played in a round-robin format 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.

Star players set to take part include 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, India’s Ambati Rayudu and New Zealand’s Trent Boult.