Global Cricket Stars is part of the upcoming draft of the new American Pro T20 League

It’s been years in the making, delayed by weather due to the Covid-19 pandemic constant commotion from the sport’s national governing body, but the long-awaited first professional American T20 cricket league is finally becoming a reality.

Major League cricket is played in July at the newly built Grand Prairie Stadium near Dallas. The six-team tournament, featuring 19 games over 17 days, will feature games from Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Seattle and New York.

Franchise names, rosters and salary caps are still unknown, but light will be revealed during the competition’s opening draft on March 19 at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The combine, featuring 50 of the best US cricketers, will be held before the draft from 4-16. March under the watchful eye of MLC franchise coaches and scouts. It offers domestic players a chance to make an impact while measuring the depth of domestic talent.

“Major League Cricket will feature many of the best T20 players from around the world in its inaugural season, playing alongside some of the strongest domestic talent in the United States,” said Justin Geale, MLC Tournament Director.

“We’re excited to see the teams take off after the March 19 draft event at the Space Center in Houston. The MLC draft puts the squads in place for an exciting summer of T20 competition played at an unprecedented level in the USA.”

There is much intrigue about which players will be lured by the premium, which is expected to be in the region of similar start-ups in the UAE and South Africa. MLC had secured more than $40 million in funding and more than $100 million in “handshakes” from private investors, including tech giants Microsoft.

“We want to be competitive and equal to the standards of the new leagues,” MLC founder Vijay Srinivasan told me late last year. “Our goal is to bring the best players to the United States. We have to be competitive with the comparison outside the Indian Premier League.

Many players are looking to pioneer cricket in the world’s biggest sports market ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean.

The MLC, quite strategically, is played at a time of year free from competing T20 leagues, even though it is at the height of England’s red ball season. However, the league is expected to attract many high-profile names already firmly in the T20 franchise league circuit, while other star players may also want to be a part of history.

For many obvious reasons, the United States is seen as a target market for the sport’s administrators to put a lot of effort into, although cricket has long struggled to gain traction amid such a competitive sporting landscape.

While politicization continues to undermine American cricket, the hope is that the MLC will at least generate interest, and not just among the country’s large South Asian expatriate population.

It’s a long-term project, but the first draft will see the investment in American cricket begin to pay off.