By 7.30pm in Grand Prairie, when Ali Khan set off on his run-up, temperatures in this corner of Texas hovered around 102 degrees. A warm breeze blew across the ground but there was barely a cloud in the sky or a patch of green on the wicket. Ideal batting conditions, all told.
Not that Khan – opening for the LA Knight Riders – would have thrown the ball to anyone else. This was a moment to cherish for the USA star. He was tasked with bowling the first ball of Major League Cricket: this country’s newest professional sports league and this sport’s latest attempt to break America.
‘A giant leap across the Atlantic,’ broadcasters called it. ‘Cricket’s American dream’.
No pressure, then. And so Devon Conway – of New Zealand and the Texas Super Kings – waited as Khan sent the ball into the pitch and towards the unknown.
The fast bowler believes that, in time, this T20 tournament will trail only the Indian Premier League.
The Texas Super Kings ran out winners in the first game of Major League Cricket on Thursday
Thousands of adoring fans turned up for a successful first night in Grand Prairie, Texas
It remains to be seen whether Major League Cricket can keep up the hype they’ve built so far
The next two and half weeks should tell us if he is on to something. Or seduced by blind faith.
This was the first of 19 games split between this converted baseball ground near Dallas and a 3,000-seater stadium in North Carolina.
Deep pockets and grand plans mean top international talent is spread across the six teams – the Knight Riders, the Super Kings, the Seattle Orcas, the San Francisco Unicorns, Washington Freedom and MI New York. Jason Roy gave up his England contract to come over. Liam Plunkett is here, too.
Also among the foreign legion are South Africa’s Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada, Australia’s Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa and Aaron Finch and West Indians Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell.
They will line up alongside local talent such as Pakistan-born Khan. Around 6,000 fans flocked here on Thursday night, including Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene. Organizers reckon they could have flogged a few thousand more.
But it was a sell-out and a terrific atmosphere. ‘T-S-K, T-S-K’ rang out even before half centuries from Conway and David Miller fired the Super Kings to 181/6. In response, South African-American Rusty Theron helped reduce the Knight Riders to 7-3.
Russell led a fightback, hitting 10 boundaries and sending one out of the stadium. It was all in vain as the Super Kings won by 69 runs to send yellow flags waving into the Texas sky, and crown an opening night flush with promise.
America’s Ali Khan (left) was given the huge moment of bowling the first ball of the league
David Miller plays a shot from Khan during Major League Cricket’s opener, in 100 degree heat
Fans watch on as Milind Kumar stops the ball at the boundary during the game on Thursday
Back in March, when Major League Cricket gathered for its swanky draft four hours south of here, the symbolism was obvious. They chose the NASA space center in Houston for a reason. But will the next fortnight really mark lift-off for cricket on this vast frontier. Or just another false dawn? Another of what Elon Musk might term a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’.
Because we have been here before. Recent decades have seen several botched attempts to break America. The first incarnation of Major League Cricket – founded in 2000 – barely got off the ground.
No wonder organizers of this venture admit to having doubts.
But they have at least given themselves solid foundations. As well as an impressive cast of imports, Major League Cricket have enlisted some serious backers – both financial and cricketing.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is among several Silicon Valley types pumping in money, while IPL owners have stakes in four of the six teams. The other two are supported by Australian state bodies.
Those close ties could lure stars such as Australian Steve Smith over in the future.
But organizers can’t afford this to become just another T20 Tournament in an already crammed field. They know that the cricket must sell itself. And they know they have to lean on their surroundings.
Hence the pre-game pageantry and aerial acrobatics: they want to combine American glitz with cricketing guile.
Unmukt Chand can only watch on as fans try to catch a ball hit for six by the Texas Super Kings
There was a party atmosphere, and Major League Cricket has deep pockets and big plans
On Thursday night, though, Grand Prairie was laced with South Asian flavor.
Fans were given a free flag and whistle on entry. Some wore Stetsons. Many more wore shirts carrying the names of IPL teams and Indian stars such as MS Dhoni. Stalls around the ground, meanwhile, were supplied by Foodistaan, a local Indian restaurant.
Indian expats offer this tournament an immediate support base and the plan was to target ‘low-hanging fruit’ – existing cricket fans – first. For this to last, however, for MLC to attract more overseas stars, for cricket to even dream of rubbing shoulders with baseball – America’s Pastime – new fans will have to come. Preferably before next year, when the US will co-host the T20 World Cup.
This opening night came had its teething problems – a few loose shots and dropped catches and a half-time drone show that fell victim to technical glitches.
But it ended with fireworks, after Miller, Russell and Co had provided plenty of pyrotechnics.
Now we wait. To see if cricket lights up America at last, or fizzles into the dark once more.
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Mail Online
