Cricket team
League | Minor League Cricket | |
---|---|---|
Conference | Eastern Division (Atlantic Conference) | |
Personnel | ||
Captain | Sunny Sohal | |
Owner | Rajit Passey | |
Team information | ||
City | Baltimore, Maryland | |
Colours | Orange, and Dark Orange. | |
Founded | 2020; 4 years ago (2020) | |
Home ground | Veterans Memorial Park | |
| ||
The Baltimore Royals (formerly the DC Hawks) are an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that compete in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The team is based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was formed in 2020 as part of 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket. The franchise is currently owned by Rajit Passey.
The team's home ground is Veterans Memorial Park, located in Woodbridge, Virginia. American international Sunny Sohal currently helms as captain, with former IPL cricketer Bipul Sharma standing by as vice-captain.
Ravi Inder Singh tops the batting leaderboard for the team with 564 runs, while Sarabjit Ladda tops the bowling team with 29 wickets.
Franchise history
Background
Talks of an American Twenty20 league started in November 2018 just before USA Cricket became the new governing body of cricket in the United States. In May 2021, USA Cricket announced they had accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a US$1 billion investment covering the league and other investments benefitting the U.S. national teams.
In an Annual General Meeting on February 21, 2020, it was announced that USA Cricket was planning to launch Major League Cricket in 2021 and Minor League Cricket that summer, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and due to the lack of high-quality cricket stadiums in the USA. Major League Cricket was pushed to a summer-2023 launch and Minor League Cricket was pushed back to July 31, 2021.
USA Cricket CEO Iain Higgins also pointed out cities such as New York City, Houston and Los Angeles with a large cricket fanbase, and targeted them among others as launch cities for Minor League Cricket.
Exhibition league
In July 2020, the player registration for the Minor League Cricket exhibition league began. On August 15, 2020, USA Cricket announced the teams participating in the exhibition league matches, also listing the owners for each team. The draft for the exhibition league began on August 22, 2020, with the DC Hawks releasing their squad on September 2. Navin Stewart was later named as captain for the DC Hawks in the exhibition league.
2021 season
See also: 2021 Minor League Cricket season § Atlantic ConferenceAfter the conclusion of the exhibition league, USA Cricket announced that they were planning to launch the inaugural season of Minor League Cricket in spring 2021. Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31, they announced Sunny Sohal as captain and Adil Bhatti as vice-captain.
In their first match of the season, they beat the Florida Beamers by 65 runs, but lost to the New England Eagles by 33 runs the same day. They then went on to win against the Philadelphians, the Eagles twice, the Titans, the Stallions, the Yorkers, and the Cavaliers. They additionally lost against the Philadelphians, the Titans, the Stallions, the Yorkers, the Cavaliers, the Fire, and the Param Veers.
The Hawks placed 4th in their group, thus missing the quarter-finals.
2022 season
See also: 2022 Minor League Cricket season § Atlantic ConferenceAhead of the 2022 season, Major League Cricket announced that the draft for that season would take place on May 12. Ahead of the official season, it was announced that American international Sunny Sohal would continue to captain the side, with former IPL cricketer Bipul Sharma taking over the role of vice-captain following Adil Bhatti's departure to the Empire State Titans.
Throughout the season, the Hawks lost twice against the Stallions, the Titans, and the Yorkers, lost once against the runners-up Atlanta Fire, won once and lost once against the Eagles and the Philadelphians, won once against the Lions, and won twice against the Cavaliers. Overall, the Hawks ended with a 5-9 win-loss record, securing them fifth in their division and unable to go to the play-offs.
2023 season
Before the start of the 2023 season, it was announced that the DC Hawks would undergo a name-change to the Baltimore Royals.
Current squad
- Players with international caps are listed in bold.
Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Year signed | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Batsmen | ||||||
Abdullah Ghazi | United Arab Emirates | (1988-05-18) 18 May 1988 (age 36) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 2021 | Overseas |
Franklin Clement | United States | (1993-04-21) 21 April 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | |
Ritwik Behera | United States | (2003-11-10) 10 November 2003 (age 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | |
Shehan Perera | Sri Lanka | (1987-02-11) 11 February 1987 (age 37) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | Overseas |
Sunny Sohal | United States | (1987-11-10) 10 November 1987 (age 37) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2021 | Captain |
Talal Zia | Pakistan | (1986-03-25) 25 March 1986 (age 38) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | Overseas |
All-rounders | ||||||
Shukri Rahim | Malaysia | (1986-10-06) 6 October 1986 (age 38) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | Overseas |
Adil Bhatti | United States | (1984-10-28) 28 October 1984 (age 40) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | Vice-captain |
Dane Piedt | South Africa | (1990-03-06) 6 March 1990 (age 34) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | Overseas |
Ishan Sharma | United States | (2003-05-17) 17 May 2003 (age 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | 2021 | |
Naseer Islam | United States | (1972-09-23) 23 September 1972 (age 52) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 2021 | |
Rasesh Behera | United States | (2001-08-30) 30 August 2001 (age 23) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | |
Ravi Inder Singh | India | (1987-12-04) 4 December 1987 (age 37) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | Overseas |
Raviteja Reddy | United States | (1993-02-11) 11 February 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2021 | |
Sahil Kapoor | United States | (1986-08-11) 11 August 1986 (age 38) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 2021 | |
Waleed Karimullah | United States | (1993-06-08) 8 June 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | |
Bowlers | ||||||
Sarabjit Ladda | India | (1974-10-25) 25 October 1974 (age 50) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 2021 | Overseas |
Wicket-keepers | ||||||
Christopher van Tull | United States | (1986-10-05) 5 October 1986 (age 38) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | 2021 |
See also
References
- ^ "Minor League Cricket Announces Franchise Owners and Draft Update". USA Cricket. August 15, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- ^ Minor League Cricket (February 28, 2023). "New season, new name! The DC Hawks are now the Baltimore Royals. The name might be new, but the attitude is still the same. Join us in welcoming the Royals for the upcoming 2023 MiLC Season!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- "Minor League Division Preview Series - Eastern". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. July 27, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- ^ "Punjab cricketers move to US with eye on national team". Hindustan Times. July 7, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- Ehrenhaft, Ethan (October 4, 2022). "Cricket's popularity takes off in Howard County as adult and youth leagues gain hundreds of players and youth pitch opens". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
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- "DC Hawks - Bowling". CricClubs.com. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
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- "American Major League Cricket tournament launch pushed to 2023 at Annual General Meeting". Inside the Games. May 24, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
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- "Minor League Cricket Announces Player Registration Opening". USA Cricket. July 7, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
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- "Inaugural Minor League Cricket Draft to Take Place Today". USA Cricket. August 22, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- ^ "17 of the 24 Squads Confirmed as Inaugural Minor League Cricket Draft is completed". USA Cricket. September 2, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- "USA Cricket Launches Foundational Plan". USA Cricket. October 15, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
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- "The Monday All Rounder - Opening Weekend". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. August 2, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ "The Monday All Rounder - Week Two". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. August 9, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
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- ^ "The Tuesday All Rounder - Week Six". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. September 7, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ Patel, Smit (September 2, 2021). "Minor Cricket League Week 5: Ricardo Powell turns back the clock". CricBuzz. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- Patel, Smit (August 25, 2021). "Minor League Cricket Week 4: Unmukt Chand makes his presence felt". CricBuzz.com. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ "The Monday All Rounder - Week Seven". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. September 13, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ "The Monday All Rounder - Week Eight". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. September 20, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- Mehta, Nilesh (September 13, 2021). "The rise of cricket in the United States of America". Sportstar. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- "Title and Presenting Partners Announced for 2022 Minor League Cricket Championship". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
- Tom Nielson (June 23, 2022). "MiLC Previews - Eastern Division". Major League Cricket. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
- Patel, Smit (July 26, 2022). "Dallas Mustangs and Silicon Valley Strikers surge ahead". Cricbuzz. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- Patel, Smit (August 3, 2022). "MiLC Week 6: East Bay Blazers End Silicon Valley Strikers 11-game Winning Streak". Cricbuzz. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- "The MiLC All Rounder - Week One". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. June 28, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- Smit Patel (August 10, 2022). "Minor League T20 Week 7: Teams tantalizingly poised for final round of league stage". Cricbuzz. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
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