Major Cricket League (MLC) has been awarded the List-A status by the International Cricket Council (ICC) ahead of its second season. The highly successful inaugural season saw a large reception at the venues in Texas and Morrisville and the involvement of some of the biggest T20 stars helped majorly in the tournament's success as the sport continues to find its footing in the American markets. The official T20 status will not only help the league to grow but also help the local players show what they can.
MLC became the second T20 league by an Associate nation to get List-A status after the UAE's International League T20, which also got its official status after the first edition.
“We saw cricket mania sweep across the US last year off the back of our inaugural season of Major League Cricket. Now, we take exciting momentum into the highly anticipated ICC T20 World Cup and season two of the MLC," the league CEO Vijay Srinivasan said.
“With an unforgettable summer of cricket on our doorstep, we’re ready to capture the hearts of American sports fans with our thrilling, adrenaline-charged game that is the most exciting emerging T20 tournament across the globe," he added.
With the T20 World Cup, the second edition of the MLC and the Legends Intercontinental T20 League scheduled one after the other in June, July and August, it is going to be a busy season for cricket in the USA and the fans in the country for the game to gain popularity in the Americas.
The inaugural edition of the MLC featured just 19 matches with MI New York winning it against the Seattle Orcas. The tournament has expanded to 25 games in 2024 and is set to increase to 34 games. The CEO also confirmed that the league is set to expand to eight teams in the next couple of years and then add two more to 10 in the future. The second edition is set to begin on July 5.
