Australia superstar Steve Smith could ply his trade in the United States next year, playing in the second season of the much-anticipated Major League Cricket. The inaugural edition of the tournament will get underway in July this year.
The tournament will be played across three weeks (July 13-30) in Texas and North Carolina. A total of 6 teams will be participating in the first edition of the Major League Cricket. The six franchises will be based in Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington DC, San Francisco and New York City.
The tournament has received good response from wealthy businessmen and celebrities from India. The likes of Shah Rukh Khan, who is the co-owner of IPL outfit Kolkata Knight Riders, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella are some of the investors in the tournament. Each of the six franchises has a $1.5 million salary cap to secure 18 players, with a maximum of seven overseas stars.
Steve Smith play in Major League Cricket:
According to reports, Steve Smith has already held secret talks with the bosses of Major League Cricket and looks set to become one of the most high profile names to play in the competition.
The right-handed batsman won’t be playing in the inaugural season of the MLC because it clashes with the Ashes. However, according to News Corpreports, he is already in talks with the tournament’s bosses to be a part of the second edition.
The Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to get underway in the United States and the West Indies in June next year, and Smith could have a vacant window after the tournament.
“We’ve been in touch with Steve about his plans and what he’s thinking,” MLC co-founder Sameer Mehta told News Corp.
“What he’d love to do at some point is play cricket in the US as his schedule permits.
“His view was that if he could make it work and if we could make it work – I know this season, he has commitments. I don’t know what the Australian calendar is next year but I believe there is enough space for him to potentially play. Long-term … our view is that we might see a lot of him in the US,” he added.
Earlier, Steve Smith had said that it would be “pretty cool” to finish his playing career in the United States, where he and his wife Dani announced their engagement in 2017.
“There’s obviously leagues popping up everywhere around the world now, and I think you’ll probably see more players in the back end of their career going down that route, so it’s potentially something I’ll look at in the future,” Smith told the Sydney Morning Herald in September.
“The US has been a market that cricket’s been trying to get into for some time. So yeah, I think it’d be interesting to see how it goes,” he added.
As of now, Steve Smith is in India, playing in the ongoing four-match Test. The right-hander has failed to make an impression in the first two Tests of the series and would be desperate to do well in the remaining games as Australia try to avoid a fourth straight Test series loss against India.
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