Administrator(s)American Cricket Enterprises USA Cricket
Cricket formatTwenty20
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and playoffs
ChampionsWashington Freedom (1st title)
Runners-upSan Francisco Unicorns
Participants6
Matches25
Player of the seriesTravis Head (Washington Freedom)
Most runsFaf du Plessis (Texas Super Kings) (420)
Most wicketsSaurabh Netravalkar (Washington Freedom) (15)
Official websiteMajor League Cricket
The 2024 Major League Cricket (also known as MLC 2024, or for sponsorship reasons as 2024 Cognizant Major League Cricket) was the second season of Major League Cricket, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league established in 2019 by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) in the United States. The season was hosted, as was the case the previous season, at two venues: Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas and Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina. The season was played from July 5 to 28, 2024, with the Washington Freedom defeating the San Francisco Unicorns by 96 runs to win the tournament.
2024 Major League Cricket season is located in the United States
Background
In December 2023, it was announced that the second season of the tournament would begin on July 5, 2024, four days after the conclusion of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. This was later moved back a day to July 5. It was also reported that matches would be played at Grand Prairie Stadium, alongside other venues. By March 2024, MLC had announced that they had signed Cognizant to serve as the season's title sponsor.
On February 15, 2024, the overseas players' retention lists were announced, with the number of overseas slots having been upped to nine. In the following months, teams would go on to select further overseas players, including Australian cricketers Steven Smith and Travis Head. The domestic players' draft was virtually held on March 21, 2024, with a total of 20 players being picked by teams over 10 rounds. An additional draft was scheduled for June 16 for teams to complete their squads.
The season schedule was released by MLC on May 7, with defending champions MI New York facing the Seattle Orcas in the season opener, and the final set for July 28 at Grand Prairie Stadium. Later that month, MLC announced that they had obtained official List A status for all tournament fixtures, becoming the second Associate-run league to have it alongside the ILT20.
Teams
All the six teams from the previous season took part this season.
Franchise
Captain
Head coach
Los Angeles Knight Riders
Sunil Narine
Phil Simmons
MI New York
Kieron Pollard
Robin Peterson
San Francisco Unicorns
Corey Anderson
Shane Watson
Seattle Orcas
Wayne Parnell
Pravin Amre
Texas Super Kings
Faf du Plessis
Stephen Fleming
Washington Freedom
Steve Smith
Ricky Ponting
Squads
A minimum of 16 and a maximum of 19 players can be selected by teams with a cap of nine overseas players. The teams also can retain any domestic players during the retention window, which was open until February 29, 2024. Teams were allowed to select any remaining domestic players during MLC's domestic draft, which was held on March 21, 2024, and a supplementary draft, which was held on June 16.
Venues
Matches were held at two venues, Grand Prairie Stadium with a capacity of 7,200 located in Grand Prairie, Texas, and Church Street Park with a capacity of 3,500, located in Morrisville, North Carolina.
League stage
MI New York won the toss and elected to field. , Ruben Clinton (MI New York) made his T20 debut.
Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to field. , Joshua Tromp (Texas Super Kings) made his T20 debut.
Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field. , Rain prevented any further play. , Washington Freedom were 4 runs ahead of the DLS par score of 51 runs from 7.4 overs.
San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field. , Sanjay Krishnamurthi (San Francisco Unicorns) made his T20 debut.
Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field. , Rain prevented any further play.
Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field. , Ryan Rickelton (Seattle Orcas) scored his first century in T20s.
Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to field. , No play was possible due to rain.
San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field. , No play was possible due to rain.
Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field.
MI New York won the toss and elected to field.
Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to bat. , Ali Sheikh (Seattle Orcas) made his T20 debut.
San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to bat.
Texas Super Kings won the toss and elected to field. , Noor Ahmad (Texas Super Kings) took his 100th wicket in T20s.
San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field. , Quinton de Kock (Seattle Orcas) scored his 10,000th run in T20s.
MI New York won the toss and elected to field. , Rushil Ugarkar (MI New York) made his T20 debut.
San Francisco Unicorns won the toss and elected to field. , Washington Freedom innings was reduced to 15.3 overs due to rain. , San Francisco Unicorns were set a revised target of 177 runs from 14 overs due to rain. , Juanoy Drysdale (San Francisco Unicorns) made his T20 debut.
Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to field. , Ayan Desai (Seattle Orcas) and Zia Shahzad (Texas Super Kings) both made their T20 debut.
Nicholas Pooran 62* (37) Cameron Gannon 2/40 (3 overs)
MI New York won by 6 wickets Church Street Park, Morrisville Umpires: Marais Erasmus (SA) and Rushane Samuels (WI) Player of the match: Nicholas Pooran (MI New York)
Match 2 July 5, 2024 7:30 PM (N) Scorecard
Los Angeles Knight Riders162/7 (20 overs)
v
Texas Super Kings (H)150/8 (20 overs)
Unmukt Chand 68 (45) Zia-ul-Haq 2/16 (3 overs)
Devon Conway 53 (39) Ali Khan 4/33 (4 overs)
Los Angeles Knight Riders won by 12 runs Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas Umpires: Gregory Brathwaite (WI) and Jermaine Lindo (USA) Player of the match: Ali Khan (Los Angeles Knight Riders)
Match 3 July 6, 2024 3:00 PM Scorecard
MI New York154/9 (20 overs)
v
Washington Freedom55/1 (7.4 overs)
Nicholas Pooran 44 (30) Saurabh Netravalkar 3/24 (4 overs)
Steve Smith 46* (28) Ehsan Adil 1/14 (2 overs)
Washington Freedom won by 4 runs (DLS method) Church Street Park, Morrisville Umpires: Marais Erasmus (SA) and Rushane Samuels (WI) Player of the match: Saurabh Netravalkar (Washington Freedom)
Match 4 July 7, 2024 7:30 PM (N) Scorecard
Los Angeles Knight Riders165/6 (20 overs)
v
San Francisco Unicorns166/4 (15.2 overs)
Andre Russell 40* (25) Brody Couch 2/24 (4 overs)
Finn Allen 63 (37) Spencer Johnson 3/36 (4 overs)
San Francisco Unicorns won by 6 wickets Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas Umpires: Gregory Brathwaite (WI) and Billy Taylor (USA) Player of the match: Finn Allen (San Francisco Unicorns)
Match 5 July 8, 2024 3:30 PM (D/N) Scorecard
Texas Super Kings203/5 (20 overs)
v
Washington Freedom62/0 (4 overs)
Faf du Plessis 100 (58) Saurabh Netravalkar 2/33 (4 overs)
Travis Head 32* (12)
No result Church Street Park, Morrisville Umpires: Marais Erasmus (SA) and Vijaya Mallela (USA)
Match 6 July 9, 2024 7:30 PM (N) Scorecard
Los Angeles Knight Riders168/5 (20 overs)
v
Seattle Orcas169/1 (19.5 overs)
Jason Roy 69 (52) Zaman Khan 2/24 (4 overs)
Ryan Rickelton 103* (66) Spencer Johnson 1/28 (4 overs)
Seattle Orcas won by 9 wickets Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas Umpires: Gregory Brathwaite (WI) and Jermaine Lindo (USA) Player of the match: Ryan Rickelton (Seattle Orcas)
Match 7 July 10, 2024 3:00 PM Scorecard
San Francisco Unicorns127 (17.5 overs)
v
Texas Super Kings128/3 (12.5 overs)
Matthew Short 33 (15) Mohammad Mohsin 4/13 (3.5 overs)
Faf du Plessis 34 (17) Hassan Khan 2/16 (2 overs)
Texas Super Kings won by 7 wickets Church Street Park, Morrisville Umpires: Marais Erasmus (SA) and Vijaya Mallela (USA) Player of the match: Mohammad Mohsin (Texas Super Kings)
Match 8 July 11, 2024 7:30 PM (N) Scorecard
Seattle Orcas124 (19.4 overs)
v
Washington Freedom127/5 (18.2 overs)
Heinrich Klaasen 51 (30) Lockie Ferguson 4/26 (4 overs)
