By Malcolm Conn
Two of Steve Smith’s great loves, cricket and New York, are on course to collide after Cricket NSW sealed a deal with America’s Major League Cricket to provide opportunities for exchange and development for players and staff.
While Smith will be unavailable for the inaugural MLC competition in July because of the Ashes, Cricket NSW CEO Lee Germon hopes a number of NSW players will have the chance to join the six franchises competing in the three-week Twenty20 tournament.
“I think the opportunities for all of our players are going to be brilliant,” Germon said before Friday’s official announcement.
“Steve absolutely has made no secret that he loves New York, but there are also two or three other players I’ve spoken to who would love to be able to play cricket in the United States.
“We’re looking at every opportunity we can to grow the game, develop the game and promote the game and I think we saw with Steve this year coming back to play with the Sixers and the BBL, the impact he had.
“So absolutely we’ll look to utilise the players within the New South Wales ecosystem to not only highlight the T20 competition and Major League Cricket, but also the development of cricket in that country as well.”
Steve Smith was in exceptional form for the Sixers, including back-to-back centuries ahead of the India tour.Credit: Getty
Smith told the Herald and The Age in September that it would be “cool” to play cricket in New York.
“I mean, yeah, there’s obviously [T20] 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 said. “There’s no reason why cricket can’t work [in the US], I wouldn’t think.
“The US has been a market cricket has been trying to get into for some time. So yeah, I think it’d be interesting to see how it goes.”
Germon claimed the United States was the “No.1 development market” for the International Cricket Council.
Cricket NSW CEO Lee GermonCredit: Fairfax Media
“We’re all aware of the size of market in the United States, the size of the South Asian diaspora, and the fact that the T20 World Cup will be there [during 2024 in partnership with the West Indies]. Before we know it, cricket may be in the Olympics as well.
“There is a huge and growing investor base really intent on growing the game in the United States.”
While Cricket NSW will also have a high-performance partnership with the Washington DC franchise, most of the six privately owned franchises will link up with IPL clubs. Some have an increasing global reach, which includes the West Indian and now South African and UAE T20 competitions.
“I think we’re moving very quickly into a world where a player will more than likely turn out for his IPL club in a number of competitions,” Germon said.
With no significant uplift in Cricket Australia’s recent television rights deal, state associations are looking for extra revenue streams to increase junior participation, with Cricket NSW seeking to double the number of five to twelve year-old’s playing the game.
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