In a huge boost to the Major League Cricket (MLC) in its 2024 season, the Australia Test and One-Day International captain Pat Cummins is set to be part of the second season of the league, after signing a deal with the San Francisco Unicorns.
The franchise shares a very strong and strategic relationship with Victoria’s first-class set-up in Australia. With their captain from the last edition, Aaron Finch retired from all forms of cricket, Pat Cummins is expected to fill the leadership duties at the Unicorns.
The 31-year-old will go into the league, after successfully leading the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, where they finished as the runners-up after losing the final to the Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Pat Cummins joins Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade in SFU
With the MLC stint, Pat Cummins will take a huge step towards the T20 franchises league cricket. The pacer was also part of the Big Bash League (BBL), and has been on road with Australia and the Sunrisers since mid-February.
Currently, the veteran is in the Caribbean, where he is preparing with the national side for the start of their campaign in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. The three-week stay in America at the end of the world event will end a long five-month mission for the pacer, which started with the tour of New Zealand.
The decision of Pat Cummins singing the offer in the MLC has shown his interest towards the franchise system, while it also has been proved that the tournament has begun to grow around the world cricket, among all the other leagues going around.
The Australia captain joins the likes of Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Spencer Johnson, Steve Smith and young Jake Fraser-McGurk for the second edition of the Major League Cricket.
The San Francisco finished the last season at the penultimate position in the six-team tournament, where they could earn only two victories out of the five games, at a net run rate of -0.303. The other Aussie players such as Mitchell March, Stoinis too is expected to make an appearance in the competition.
Cummins was fantastic in the IPL 2024, with the bat, and the leadership duties, and even when required to guide themselves with the bat. The New South Wales (NSW) bowler ended the tournament with 18 wickets in 16 innings at an average of 31.44 and an economy of 9.27, with the best figures of 3/43.
Even in the ground, the southpaw made a great relation with the other members of the team, as he guided the young players beautifully, sharing his huge basket of experience with them, with helping to perform in crunch situations.
It was quite a phenomenal job by Pat Cummins, who helped the franchise to finish the season at the second position, after being satisfied with the wooden spoon in the last season during the IPL 2023. He will work with the likes of Pakistan pacer Harris Rauf in the San Francisco side.
The second edition of the Major League Cricket (MLC) will start from July 06, between the MI New York team (MINY) and the Seattle Orcas team (SEA) in Morrisville. The San Francisco side will begin their campaign against the Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) on July 07, at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas.