Sports Rush: The Games Have Begun

Wednesday, Olympic competition kicked off in Paris, France.

Thursday, I watched an Olympic sport played live – in Grand Prairie, Texas.

The rosters of international competitors I saw did not have to hustle to DFW Airport after the match to get to Friday’s Opening Ceremonies several time zones away. They actually have plenty of time. Should they make their country’s Olympic rosters, they’ll just need to make sure they’re in place for the 2028 torch lighting in Los Angeles.

Thursday, players from half a dozen countries competed for the Washington Freedom and the San Francisco Unicorns in the qualifier round of Major League Cricket’s playoffs. Behind a dominant 77-run batting performance from Australian Travis Head, the Freedom won and moved into Sunday’s final. The Unicorns take on the locally-affiliated Texas Super Kings in tonight’s eliminator game to determine Washington’s opponent. The league is staging all of this year’s postseason contests at Grand Prairie Stadium.

Cricket enjoys massive popularity in certain parts of the world. The U.S. isn’t one of them at the moment, but those involved in the sport see a path to changing that status. The establishment last year of MLC as a quality league that attracted good players from overseas to play alongside native cricketers represented a huge step to developing both awareness and talent.

“Playing with the best players in the world and seeing how they operate,” said American allrounder Sanjay Krishnamurthi at the post-match press conference, “There is a gap, but I think it’s smaller than some of us would have thought. I feel like the growth of USA cricket is definitely on the up.”

The 21-year-old Krishnamurthi had a breakthrough game when the teams met earlier in the week, scoring 79 runs without being put out as the Unicorns gave Washington its only loss of the regular season. The Oregon native added another 19 runs Thursday. The internationals in the league have noted the emerging American player pool.

“They’re all extremely talented,” said Washington’s Glenn Maxwell, who put up a half century in Thursday’s win. “The way that they’ve sort of stood up against world-class players on all teams has been really impressive, and nothing’s really fazed them too much.”

Perhaps most importantly, the Americans in the league have taken advantage of having access to players like Maxwell, who has won multiple Cricket World Cups with Australia.

“They’ve been extremely professional on and off the field. We’ve had some great conversations around the game,” said Maxwell. “A few of the guys have been not shy in asking a few questions and putting themselves out there. And that takes some courage as well. And they’ve been able to tap into the various cricket brains that we’ve got.”

Maxwell also took notice of Team USA’s performance in June’s Twenty20 World Cup (T20 is the time-limited form of the game played by MLC) in which the Americans won a pair of matches, including a huge upset win against world power Pakistan. The U.S. co-hosted that event with the West Indies. The team’s top-seven finish ensured they will also get to compete in the 2026 edition in India and Sri Lanka.

Cricket has not been contested at an Olympiad since 1900, when England defeated France for gold (they were the only two teams entered), but that will finally change four years from now in California. As of now, Team USA is the only country officially qualified for the 2028 Olympic cricket competition, thanks to its status as host nation. Many of the American players currently in Major League Cricket could find themselves on the roster for that tournament. Whether they’ll get good enough to merit medal consideration remains to be seen, but they’ll create an enormous opportunity for their sport no matter the results on the pitch.

“The Olympics brings, I think, the eyeballs of the general American public onto cricket,” said Krishnamurthi. “By then, hopefully this league is flourishing, and hopefully our players are up to scratch, so that when the opportunity comes, we can really show the rest of the USA how cool of a sport cricket is.”

In so doing, they might also show something to the world.

“The growth of the game here in the U.S. is only scratching the surface of what could possibly be,” said Maxwell, who could conceivably have to compete against a stateside team on the rise and playing at home in 2028. “It’s scary to see, to imagine what USA could be one day.”