Players like Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor could be targeted to play in Major League Cricket: Corey Anderson

Auckland: Former New Zealand cricketer Corey Anderson believes someone like veteran opener Martin Guptill, who was not included in the white-ball side to play the tough series against India, opens the door for him to play in the American Major League Cricket (MLC), which recently announced its 2023 debut date.

MLC has announced the dates for its inaugural season in the summer of 2023, a competition that will bring many of the world’s leading cricketers to the United States for the first time. The 2023 season will feature 19 matches to be played over 18 days, building up to the first-ever MLC championship final to take place on July 30, 2023.

Six teams from major metropolitan areas — representing Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Seattle and New York City — will each boast multiple global stars on their rosters alongside the best talent based in the United States, playing the T20 format of the game.

The tournament is expected to spark excitement across the US ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup, to be jointly hosted by the West Indies and the USA.

Anderson, who donned the Black Caps jersey in 93 matches across the three formats and holds the record for the second-fastest century in ODI history (36 balls), had moved to play in the MLC in 2020 and is confident other high-profile players will explore the new opportunity.

With Guptill not in New Zealand Cricket (NZC) reckoning as it transition into a new era following the T20 World Cup semifinal loss to Pakistan, Anderson said the opener and the recently-retired Ross Taylor could look at MLC to showcase their batting prowess.

“Look, Guppy’s (Guptill) been an unbelievable player for a long time and I’m sure he’d be devastated that he’s not in that group,” Anderson told SENZ Mornings. “To be able to kind of have someone of his calibre not in that squad, it always raises eyebrows and so I guess from a New Zealand Cricket standpoint they’ve got to be fairly confident in who they’ve got coming in.

“Those guys (Guptill and Taylor) are massive talent and they have been for a long, long time so I’m sure their names will be thrown in the hat for the Major League Cricket and hopefully we can see them in it. I’m not going to be one of the ones who is probably picking the team but yeah, hopefully, they can find themselves among it,” said Anderson.

Anderson is currently playing for Dallas Mustangs, who are atop the Minor League Cricket standings with 12 wins and two losses.

“I can see it definitely being a situation where players… who are potentially on the outer of international teams and don’t see themselves making it back in, this could be a possibility for them to come in,” Anderson opined.

“There is an option for guys to potentially come across and they will have to do their time for eligibility and things like that, but when it comes to the franchise competition, I think you’d be finding we’re going after the top-level players.”

–IANS