Lone Star Athletics

The Lone Star Athletics (previously the Austin Athletics) are an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that compete in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The team is based in Houston, Texas. It was formed in 2020 as part of 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket.[1] The franchise is owned by Kuldeep Patel and Sakhi Muhammad.[2]

Lone Star Athletics
LeagueMinor League Cricket
ConferenceCentral Division (Pacific Conference)
Personnel
CaptainSidhesh Pathare (cricketer)
CoachVijay Patel
OwnerKuldeep Patel and Sakhi Muhammad
Team information
CityHouston, Texas
Colours  Dark Blue, and   Gold.
Founded2020 (2020)
Home groundMoosa Stadium
Capacity2,500

T20 kit

The team's home ground is Moosa Stadium, located in Pearland, Texas.[3] Team captain Sidhesh Pathare helms captaincy duties, while Shayan Jahangir stands by as vice-captain.[4]

Captain Nitish Kumar and American cricketer Laksh Parikh lead the bowling and batting leaderboards with 407 runs and 20 wickets respectively.[5][6]

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.[7][8] 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.[9]

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,[10] but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic[11] and due to the lack of high-quality cricket stadiums in the USA.[12] Major League Cricket was pushed to a summer-2023 launch[13] and Minor League Cricket was pushed back to July 31, 2021.[14]

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.[15]

Exhibition league

In July 2020, the player registration for the Minor League Cricket exhibition league began.[16] On August 15, 2020, USA Cricket announced the teams participating in the exhibition league matches, also listing the owners for each team.[17] The draft for the exhibition league began on August 22, 2020,[18] with the Lone Star Athletics releasing their squad on August 24.[19] Willem Ludick was later named as captain for the Lone Star Athletics for the exhibition league.[19]

2021 season
See also: 2021 Minor League Cricket season § Pacific Conference

After 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.[20] Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31,[21] the Athletics announced Sidhesh Pathare as captain with Shayan Jahangir helming vice-captain duties.[4]

Throughout the group stage, the Athletics won twice against the Catchers, the Mustangs, the Stars, and the Americans,[22] but they won once against the Master Blasters, the Lashings, the Surf Riders, and the Hurricanes.[23] However, the Athletics lost twice against the Chicago Blasters and the Hurricanes.[24] The Athletics' good performance in the group stage allowed for them to proceed to the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals, the Athletics were matched up with eventual title winners, Silicon Valley Strikers.[25] However, the Athletics lost to the Strikers in a best-of-three game series 2-1.[26]

2022 season

Ahead of the 2022 season, Major League Cricket announced that it was renaming the Austin Athletics to the Lone Star Athletics.[27] MLC also announced that the draft for that season would take place on May 12.[28]

Current squad
  • Players with international caps are listed in bold.
Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Year signed Notes
Batsmen
Derval Green Jamaica (1998-12-04) 4 December 1998Right-handedRight-arm medium fast2021Overseas
Jahmar Hamilton Anguilla (1990-09-22) 22 September 1990Right-handedRight-arm medium2021Overseas
Jannisar Khan United States (1981-10-06) 6 October 1981Right-handedRight-arm medium2021
Awais Zia Pakistan (1986-09-01) 1 September 1986Left-handedRight-arm off break2021Overseas
All-rounders
Ahmed Butt Pakistan (1991-03-07) 7 March 1991Left-handedSlow left-arm orthodox2021Overseas
Hamza Bangash United States (1981-08-16) 16 August 1981Right-handedRight-arm medium2021
Hamza Khalid United States (1993-09-10) 10 September 1993Right-handedRight-arm off break2021
Jay Desai India (1987-01-30) 30 January 1987Right-handedRight-arm off break2021Overseas
Nitish Kumar Canada (1994-05-21) 21 May 1994Right-handedRight-arm off break2021Overseas captain
Preyas Bhakta United States (1991-02-15) 15 February 1991Right-handedRight-arm leg break googly2021
Rishab Patil United States (2001-04-17) 17 April 2001Right-handedRight-arm fast medium2021
Safiullah Faheem United States (1992-08-10) 10 August 1992Right-handedRight-arm medium2021
Sidhesh Pathare United States (1986-08-20) 20 August 1986Right-handedRight-arm medium fast2021
William Perkins Trinidad and Tobago (1986-10-08) 8 October 1986Right-handedRight-arm medium fast2021Overseas vice-captain
Bowlers
Ali Bangash United States (1998-03-21) 21 March 1998Right-handedRight-arm fast2021
Jagrit Raj United States (1987-09-19) 19 September 1987Right-handedRight-arm fast medium2021
Laksh Parikh United States (2000-05-30) 30 May 2000Left-handedRight-arm leg break2021
Wicket-keepers
Shayan Jahangir Pakistan (1994-12-24) 24 December 1994Right-handedRight-arm medium fast2021Overseas

References
  1. "Minor League Cricket Announces Franchise Owners and Draft Owners". USA Cricket. August 15, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  2. Hays, Nate (August 18, 2020). "Minor League Cricket announces teams and owners list, draft on August 22, exhibition games tentative". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  3. "Minor League Division Preview Series - Central". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. July 30, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  4. "Pre-Draft Selections Confirmed by 21 Minor League Cricket Teams as Draft Day Looms". Major League Cricket. USA Cricket. June 4, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  5. "Lone Star Athletics - Batting". CricClubs.com. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  6. "Lone Star Athletics - Bowling". CricClubs.com. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  7. Penna, Peter Della (January 8, 2019). "USA formally approved to rejoin ICC as Associate Member under USA Cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  8. Penna, Peter Della (November 27, 2018). "USA plan to launch their T20 League in 2021". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  9. "USA Cricket Chooses Partner to Fund and Develop U.S.-Based Professional T20 Cricket League". USA Cricket. May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  10. "USA Cricket Board Meeting February 2020". USA Cricket. February 27, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  11. "USA Cricket re-evaluating Major League Cricket debut timing due to Covid-19 concerns". SportBusiness. August 2, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  12. "American Major League Cricket tournament launch pushed to 2023 at Annual General Meeting". Inside the Games. May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  13. Penna, Peter Della (May 21, 2021). "USA's MLC T20 tournament pushed back to 2023 at AGM". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  14. Penna, Peter Della (July 30, 2021). "Minor League Cricket: T20 league in USA kicks off with Sami Aslam, Corey Anderson in the mix". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  15. Penna, Peter Della (February 27, 2020). "New York, Boston, Chicago, LA among 22 targeted launch cities for USA T20 competition". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  16. "Minor League Cricket Announces Player Registration Opening". USA Cricket. July 7, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  17. "Minor League Cricket Announces Franchise Owners and Draft Update". USA Cricket. August 15, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  18. "Inaugural Minor League Cricket Draft to Take Place Today". USA Cricket. August 22, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  19. "Minor League Cricket Draft results with 15 Squads Selected". USA Cricket. August 24, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  20. "USA Cricket Launches Foundational Plan". USA Cricket. October 15, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  21. "American Cricket History to be Made on Minor League Cricket Opening Weekend". Major League Cricket. USA Cricket. July 29, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  22. Marks, Michael & Brisbin, Shelly (September 14, 2021). "Major League Cricket Coming To North Texas". Texas Standard. Retrieved May 9, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. Vitug, Michael (August 25, 2021). "The Biggest Sport You've Barely Heard Of". Muse by Clio. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  24. "Why Cricket Is Growing in Popularity in the US". CricketAddictor. April 7, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  25. Nielson, Tom (September 24, 2021). "Conference Semi-finals Playoff Preview". Major League Cricket. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  26. "Unmukt Chand smashes 69-ball 132 to help team chase down 190, makes waves in America's Minor League Cricket". India Today. September 29, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  27. "Title and Presenting Partners Announced for 2022 Minor League Cricket Championship". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  28. "Minor League Cricket lands Toyota, Sunoco deals". SportBusiness. May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
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