MLC Draft – Aaron Finch, Mitchell Marsh, Quinton de Kock, Wanindu Hasaranga, Marcus Stoinis, Anrich Nortje have applied

Finch was also the first captain appointed by a team, as he was announced to take charge of San Francisco Unicorns, which announced earlier this month that it had signed a strategic partnership with Cricket Victoria. There he is joined by Stoinis.

Former Australian internationals Graham Manou and Ben Rohrer, who now work at Cricket Victoria as general manager of cricket performance and Victoria/Melbourne Stars assistant coach respectively, had both been in Houston for the past week to scout talent.

The team added even more Victorian flavor to the draft with their sixth-round pick of Victoria and Stars fast bowler Brody Couch, who qualifies as a domestic player due to being a dual Australian-American citizen through his mother, who was originally comes from New York. .

Unicorns used their first two picks on Corey Anderson and Liam Plunkett, both of whom now live in the US after marrying Americans.

Marsh and de Kock are both signed by Seattle Orcas, whose ownership group has ties to the Delhi Capitals franchise in the IPL. Marsh is also on the Capitals team for the 2023 IPL.

Nortje and Hasaranga are signed to play for Washington (DC) Freedom, whose franchise has a strategic partnership with Cricket New South Wales.

The six-team competition was scheduled to be played in a single round-robin format from July 13 to 30 with a new venue in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, Texas expected to serve as the main venue for the tournament in its first year. due to lack of suitable turf-wicket locations in all other franchise cities.