Cricket NSW and Freedom in MLC title shot

As the high performance partners of the Washington Freedom franchise, CNSW will have plenty of skin in the game when the Freedom play their first fixture on Sunday morning (5am AEST, July 7) against MI New York, the team owned by the IPL’s Mumbai Indians.

Ponting, the former superstar player and now globetrotting coach and commentator, will take the helm of a Freedom side that includes NSW and Sydney Sixers stars Steve Smith and Jack Edwards, as well as Australian team regulars Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell.

Western Australian fast bowler Andrew Tye is also in the squad, as is New Zealand prodigy Rachin Ravindra, his compatriot Lockie Ferguson, South African giant Marco Jansen and West Indian allrounder Akeal Hosein.

It is a group of international players with experience, strike and power that will be complemented by a host of local talent, led by Saurabh Netravalkar and Andries Gous, a pair of American’s who represented their adopted country in the recent ICC T20 World Cup with distinction.

For the full Washington Freedom playing roster, click here.

Pulling the strings behind the scenes are a host of Cricket NSW staff, including Freedom’s General Manager of Cricket, Michael Klinger, Patrick Farhart (Head of SSSM), Shawn Bradstreet (assistant coach), Danny Redrup (Physiotherapist), Mike Najdan (Performance Analyst) and Chris Muldoon (Washington Freedom-CNSW liaison).

Washington Freedom fixture 

Here’s a recap of how MLC works:  

The teams
Just like in the inaugural season, there are six teams in the second edition of MLC. Joining Washington Freedom are the Texas Super Kings, Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns and the Seattle Orcas.

Team partners
Each team is supported by world class cricketing partners who have managed teams at the highest-levels of global T20 cricket.

• Washington Freedom - Cricket New South Wales (high-performance partner)
• Texas Super Kings - Chennai Super Kings
• Los Angeles Knight Riders - Knight Riders Group
• MI New York - Mumbai Indians
• San Francisco Unicorns - Cricket Victoria (high-performance partner)
• Seattle Orcas - GMR Group (co-owner of the Delhi Capitals, high performance partner)

The venues
As in the first season, all matches will be played either at the purpose built 7,200 seat Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas or Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina.

The fixture
The season will feature 25 matches in total, 21 in the regular season and four finals – a rise from the 19 total games in the tournament’s first year. Each team will play every other team once, and two franchises twice, before a four team, four match finals series.

For the full fixture, click here.

The Players
MLC team rosters will each feature multiple top global T20 superstars alongside the best players from the domestic player pool, including dozens with experience playing international, First-Class and List A cricket.

Each team will have a minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 19 players on its squad, including one under-23 domestic "rookie" player to help develop the next generation of American players, along with another nine domestic players.

Each team is permitted up to nine international players on its roster. No more than six international players are permitted in the playing XI, with five domestic players to feature in each match and ten domestic players on each roster at all times.

This season, every team has at least one Australian on their roster, whether that be an international player or an Australian who qualifies as an American domestic player.

Australian and NSW superstar Pat Cummins will play for the San Francisco Unicorns, while fellow NSW Blue Adam Zampa is signed with the LA Knight Riders.

How to watch
The tournament will be screened live in Australia on Prime Video.