Photo above courtesy of Hasham Malik Photography @ Hasham Malik Photography
Minor League Cricket is pleased to make a major expansion announcement ahead of the inaugural season of Minor League Cricket (MiLC) in 2021 with new permanent teams added in the states of New York, Missouri and Washington with the New York City (team yet to be named), St Louis Americans and the Seattle Thunderbolts all coming on board to increase the number of competing sides to 27 for Minor League Cricket which will commence on Saturday July 31st.
The Minor League Cricket Draft is taking place tomorrow on Friday June 4th with 21 of the 27 teams ready to select their squads, in a Draft that will take place across 7 different regionalized drafts spanning from the East Coast across to the West Coast and taking in teams from all 4 of the Minor League Cricket conferences. Nearly 2,000 local players have registered, these players can now either be selected by teams in their region via either the initial Pre-Draft Selection of 9 players or during the Draft Day on Friday June 4th.
The Pre-Draft Selection phase is available for all 21 sides partaking in the draft who will be able to make 9 priority picks of players in the following categories:
• 1 x Wildcard professional
• 2 x Marquee (USA based professionals)
• 3 x Priority domestic players
• 3 x Youth players (2 x Under 21 & 1 x Under 19)
The selections for the 21 teams of their 9 players selected in the pre-draft selection will be announced by Media Release tomorrow ahead of the commencement of the first phase of the Minor League Draft.
Then at the main draft, all 21 teams will have the chance to select 7 additional players from the registered players in their zone to bring their squads to 16. This year sees the introduction of two free agent positions, these can be selected by teams post the draft from the full list of players across the country. Free agents must have registered and participated in the main draft to be eligible. Each 18 man squad must include a minimum of two Under 21 players and one Under 19 player. The Draft will take place via video conference calls and will be phased across 7 geographic zones, commencing with the Eastern Conference selections from 2pm PST and working across to the Northern California picks at 7.30pm PST.
The additional six teams will be selecting players from their own geographic region with an exclusive zone, and therefore have no requirement for a formal draft process. The Morrisville Cardinals, DC Hawks, Seattle Thunderbolts, Michigan Cricket Stars, St Louis Americans and New England Eagles teams are due for nomination Friday June 4th.
The full list of teams and their status for the Draft is as follows;
| Eastern Conference | ||
| Home City | Team Name | Draft Details |
| Boston | New England Eagles | Exclusive Draft Zone – Squad to be Submitted by Friday June 4 |
| New Jersey | New Jersey Somerset Cavaliers Cricket Club | Eastern Conference Draft 2pm PST Friday June 4 |
| New Jersey | New Jersey Stallions | Eastern Conference Draft 2pm PST Friday June 4 |
| New York | Empire State Titans | Eastern Conference Draft 2pm PST Friday June 4 |
| New York | New York City (yet to be named) | Eastern Conference Draft 2pm PST Friday June 4 |
| Philadelphia | The Philadelphians | Eastern Conference Draft 2pm PST Friday June 4 |
| Washington DC | DC Hawks | Exclusive Draft Zone – Squad to be Submitted by Friday June 4 |
| Western Conference | ||
| Home City | Team Name | Draft Details |
| Bay Peninsula | Silicon Valley Strikers | Western Conference Northern California Draft 7.30pm PST |
| East Bay | Bay Blazers | Western Conference Northern California Draft 7.30pm PST |
| Los Angeles | Hollywood Master Blasters | Western Conference Southern California Draft 6.30pm PST |
| Los Angeles | SoCal Lashings | Western Conference Southern California Draft 6.30pm PST |
| Sacramento | Golden State Grizzlies | Western Conference Northern California Draft 7.30pm PST |
| San Diego | San Diego Surf Riders | Western Conference Southern California Draft 6.30pm PST |
| Seattle | Seattle Thunderbolts | Exclusive Draft Zone – Squad to be Submitted by Friday June 4th |
| Central Conference | ||
| Home City | Team Name | Draft Details |
| Austin | Austin Athletics | Central Conference Texas Region Draft 5.30pm PST Friday June 4 |
| Chicago | Chicago Blasters | Central Conference Chicago Region Draft 5pm PST Friday June 4 |
| Chicago | Chicago Catchers | Central Conference Chicago Region Draft 5pm PST Friday June 4 |
| Dallas | Irving Mustangs | Central Conference Texas Region Draft 5.30pm PST Friday June 4 |
| Houston | Houston Hurricanes | Central Conference Texas Region Draft 5.30pm PST Friday June 4 |
| Michigan | Michigan Cricket Stars | Exclusive Draft Zone – Squad to be Submitted by Friday June 4th |
| St Louis | St Louis Americans | Exclusive Draft Zone – Squad to be Submitted by Friday June 4th |
| Southern Conference | ||
| Home City | Team Name | Draft Details |
| Atlanta | Atlanta Fire | South Conference Atlanta Region Draft 3.30pm PST Friday June 4 |
| Atlanta | Atlanta Param Veers | South Conference Atlanta Region Draft 3.30pm PST Friday June 4 |
| Ft. Lauderdale | Ft. Lauderdale Lions | South Conference Florida Region Draft 4pm PST Friday June 4 |
| Miami | Florida Beamers | South Conference Florida Region Draft 4pm PST Friday June 4 |
| Morrisville | Morrisville Cardinals | Exclusive Draft Zone – Squad to be Submitted by Friday June 4th |
| Orlando | Orlando Galaxy | South Conference Florida Region Draft 4pm PST Friday June 4 |
Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan of Major League Cricket commented. “The announcement of three new teams for Minor League Cricket is a further indicator of the interest and support in Minor League Cricket ahead of its inaugural season this year. We have been working with ownership groups across the country and have strategically targeted the areas for these three new sides with New York, Seattle and St Louis all perfect cities for the new teams.”
“We have set the draft date to give all sides enough time to be able to bring their full squads together in advance of the first games and prepare well for what is a hugely exciting first season of the tournament. We would like to thank all of our owners for their ongoing support and wish them well with their team selections in the draft on Friday.”
“USA Cricket is pleased with the progress being made ahead of the first season for Minor League Cricket and is pleased with the additional teams being added to the states of New York, Missouri and Washington.” said USA Cricket Board Member and Chair of the ACE Relations Committee, Suraj Viswanathan. “The additional teams will ensure that we have adequate coverage across the vast majority of cricketing hotbeds in the United States and we are committed to giving the best possible player opportunities and exposure through Minor League Cricket.”
“USA Cricket is committed to developing Minor League Cricket in close partnership with our partners at Major League Cricket. The tournament is going to be a crucial part of our player development pathway and with so little cricket possible in recent times due to the covid pandemic, we are all hugely looking forward to a successful tournament starting on July 31st.”
