USA’s Major League Cricket (MLC) has offered annual professional contracts to 11 USA national team players and rookie contracts to six other youth players.
USA’s MLC Offered Annual Professional Contracts
It is learnt that most of the players were offered the contracts during the recently concluded MLC Houston Challenge, a curtain-raiser for the American cricket summer that saw 3 MLC and a representative USA national side taking on one another in a series of practice games.
It is understood that USA selectors had given a list of 22 players that are part of USA’s scheme of things going forward and after much deliberation, MLC pruned down the list further.
USA’s batting mainstays captain Monank Patel and vice-captain Aaron Jones duly made the cut along with senior batsmen Steven Taylor, Jaskaran Malhotra and Gajanand Singh. Former captain Saurabh Netravalkar, Rusty Theron, Marty Kain and Ali Khan, who came back to USA fold last year after a brief hiatus from the national team, have also been made an offer.
Ian Holland, who is expected to spend most of the American summer playing for Hampshire, and Cameron Stevenson, who last played for USA in February 2020, have also made the cut.
Salary for the Players
The youth contracts offered by MLC are another step up to their extensive investment in youth cricketing ecosystems.
The investment into housing professional players as mentors into yourth academies, national coaching clinics and fast-tracking of players into their respective minor league sides is now reaping rewards with the ongoing success of players like Sai Teja Mukkamalla, Under-19 captain Ali Sheikh, Rahul Jariwala, Vatsal Vaghela and Sanjay Krishnamurthy. The youth contracts are understood to be in excess of $10,000.
The report states that these professional contracts that have been offered range from $55,000 to $40,000 per year, a far cry from the $24,000 annual fee currently paid by US cricket.
American cricketers have been held back on these meager deductions since the start of covid, having been subjected to pay cuts of more than 50%, players turned to semi-professionals and were forced to seek employment other jobs while the council’s administrative payroll has seen a climb up.
“This is a robust step towards ensuring a pool of USA qualified players are professionally contracted and available for national team duties.
MLC intends to assist these players with their professional development through access to infrastructure, exposure to high-quality tournaments and training environments, and a support structure that consists of advisors, talent representation, specialist coaches, physios etc.
This improves the quality of domestic players available for Major League Cricket’s inaugural season in 2023, and keeps the USA on track to field a very competitive team in the 2024 World Cup” said Mehta.
How Can a Player Acquire MLC contracts?
MLC contracts will require players to attend semi-professional MLC minor league cricket T20 and two other MLC-recognized T20 pop-up national events. Although these contracts do not involve playing the first MLC T20 in 2023, MLC’s Sameer Mehta believes it is a step in the right direction to develop and condition players for the rigors of professional cricket that await them.
Also Check: USA Cricket Team Players List, Joining Procedure, and Salary Details
