Major League Cricket: American T20 franchise wants England's top players

Major League Cricket players, founders and administrators rang the New York Stock Exchange closing doorbell to observe the motorboat of the US' caller nonrecreational cricket league

Major League Cricket wants to motion up England's champion players for aboriginal editions but its founders person dismissed claims it is simply a menace to English cricket arsenic "short-sighted".

"American sports fans privation to spot the champion successful the world. That's the request successful US nonrecreational sports," MLC co-founder Vijay Srinivasan told BBC Sport.

"They don't privation second-tier talent. They importune connected the best. England is fortunate to person immoderate of those with the likes of Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook."

England opener Roy decided to cancel his incremental white-ball woody with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) - worthy £60,000-£70,000 - to play successful MLC, wherever helium could perchance gain £150,000 for the tourney betwixt 13-31 July.

The 32-year-old antecedently claimed his "priority is England" with a 50-over World Cup successful October but a lucrative franchise T20 tournament, and 1 which runs parallel to the English summer, has been seen arsenic a menace to the England squad and region cricket.

Srinivasan insisted that conception was "a small spot short-sighted" and MLC is "not looking to measurement connected anyone's toes".

He added: "We privation the champion successful the satellite to travel present and we privation to bash it successful a mode that makes consciousness for the player, makes consciousness for their nationalist squad obligations and truthful on.

"We request to find a model successful the planetary cricket calendar that makes consciousness to get the champion players.

"I deliberation MLC is bringing a batch of mainstream attraction to the athletics successful the US and that's going to assistance the planetary cricket ecosystem."

'The US needs a competitory nationalist team'

Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan (right) co-founded Major League Cricket successful January 2019

The US men's nationalist squad person not qualified for a large ICC tourney since the 2004 Champions Trophy but volition enactment successful the 2024 T20 World Cup arsenic co-hosts alongside West Indies.

As an subordinate ICC member, USA Cricket lone receives a fraction of the fund afloat ICC members get, and Srinivasan believes the sizable concern successful cricket infrastructure by MCL volition beryllium a boost to cricket successful the state and assistance thrust the nationalist squad forward.

This year's MLC volition beryllium played astatine 2 grounds - successful Texas and North Carolina - but owners of the six franchises are committed to gathering caller stadiums, portion the tourney itself volition springiness vulnerability to a quota of homegrown players.

"One of the things we identified was that cricket successful the US is not going to beryllium palmy unless the US has a beardown cricket team," added Srinivasan.

"It's not astir putting up a tournament, past coming backmost 12 months aboriginal and doing it again. There has to beryllium thing more.

"What we are doing is not gathering these stadiums to play MLC erstwhile a year. We privation the US men's, women's and U19s teams to beryllium playing successful these venues wherever the champion teams successful the satellite travel and play against them.

"On the backmost of it, the US needs a competitory nationalist team. That's wherefore erstwhile the ICC T20 World Cup comes to the US adjacent twelvemonth we privation to marque definite the US tin vie with the remainder of the world.

"The satellite of cricket is going done a large modulation but for us, MLC is simply a level for each things US cricket. We don't presumption it successful isolation and a stand-alone happening that is detached. There's a batch much legs to the stool."