Chicago Catchers

Last updated

Chicago Catchers
Chicago Catchers Logo.png
League Minor League Cricket
ConferenceCentral Division (Pacific Conference)
Personnel
Captain Rizwan Cheema
OwnerCricket Management Group, LLC
Team information
City Chicago, Illinois
Colours  Light Green, and   Red.
Founded2020;3 years ago (2020)
Dissolved2022;1 year ago (2022)
Home ground Washington Park
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T20 kit

The Chicago Catchers were an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competed in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The team was based in Chicago, Illinois. It was formed in 2020 as part of 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket. [1] The franchise was owned by the Cricket Management Group, LLC. [2]

Contents

The team's home ground was Washington Park, located in Chicago, Illinois. [3] Former Canadian cricket captain Rizwan Cheema helmed captaincy duties, while Karan Kumar stood by as vice-captain. [4]

Americans Shreyas Ramesh and Ranadeep Aleti led the bowling and batting leaderboards with 266 runs and 10 wickets respectively. [5] [6]

Franchise history

Background

Talks of an American Twenty20 league started in November 2018 before USA Cricket became the new governing body of cricket in the United States. [7] [8] In May 2021, USA Cricket announced they 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 (AGM) on February 21, 2020, it was announced that USA Cricket planned 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 U.S. [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 Chicago Catchers releasing their squad on September 12. [19] Rizwan Cheema was later named as captain for the Blasters, with Karan Kumar down for vice-captaincy duties for the exhibition league. [20]

2021 season

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. [21] Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31, [22] the Catchers announced Rizwan Cheema as captain with Karan Kumar helming vice-captain duties. [4]

Throughout the group stage, the Catchers lost all of their matches, losing twice against the Athletics, the Blasters, the Hurricanes, the Stars, and the Americans, while losing once against the Strikers, the Blazers, and the Mustangs. [23] [24] The Catchers finished last in their group, thus not advancing to the quarterfinals.

2022 season

For the 2022 season, it was announced that MiLC was replacing the Catchers with the Chicago Tigers. [25]

Squad

NameNationalityBirth dateBatting styleBowling styleYear signedNotes
Batsmen
Abhyu GargFlag of the United States.svg  United States 23 May 1995 (age 28)Right-handedRight-arm fast medium 2021
Karan KumarFlag of England.svg  England 8 September 1992 (age 30)Right-handedRight-arm medium 2021Overseas
Kevin PhillipFlag of the United States.svg  United States 5 February 1992 (age 31)Right-handedRight-arm medium fast 2021
Deepchand PinnakaFlag of the United States.svg  United States 18 April 1994 (age 29)Right-handedRight-arm off break 2021
Rizwan Cheema Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 15 August 1978 (age 44)Right-handedRight-arm medium 2021Overseas captain
Shreyas RameshFlag of the United States.svg  United States 17 July 1988 (age 35)Right-handedRight-arm medium fast 2021
All-rounders
Akul GuptaFlag of the United States.svg  United States 19 June 1991 (age 32)Left-handedRight-arm leg break googly 2021
Ankush AgarwalFlag of the United States.svg  United States 25 March 1998 (age 25)Right-handedRight-arm off break 2021
Asmar NajamFlag of the United States.svg  United States 5 July 1982 (age 41)Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox 2021
Pankaj KampliFlag of the United States.svg  United States 22 December 1986 (age 36)Right-handedRight-arm leg break 2021
Ranadeep AletiFlag of the United States.svg  United States 20 October 1990 (age 32)Right-handedRight-arm fast medium 2021
Salman AhmedFlag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 11 December 1964 (age 58)Right-handedRight-arm off break 2021Overseas
Sandeep SivaramFlag of the United States.svg  United States 17 January 1992 (age 31)Right-handed Slow left-arm unorthodox bowling 2021
Saquib ChowdaryFlag of the United States.svg  United States 18 August 1988 (age 34)Right-handedRight-arm fast medium 2021
Shiraz NajamFlag of the United States.svg  United States 18 April 1981 (age 42)Right-handedRight-arm medium fast 2021
Sikander SolejaFlag of the United States.svg  United States 4 January 1986 (age 37)Right-handedRight-arm medium 2021
Tejas VishalFlag of the United States.svg  United States 19 August 2001 (age 21)Right-handedRight-arm medium 2021
Wicket-keepers
Sneh PatelFlag of the United States.svg  United States 15 April 1990 (age 33)Right-handed2021

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References

  1. ↑ "Minor League Cricket Announces Franchise Owners and Draft Owners". USA Cricket . August 15, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 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 June 1, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Minor League Division Preview Series - Central". Minor League Cricket . Major League Cricket. July 30, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Pre-Draft Selections Confirmed by 21 Minor League Cricket Teams as Draft Day Looms". Major League Cricket . USA Cricket. June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Chicago Catchers - Batting". CricClubs.com. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Chicago Catchers - Bowling". CricClubs.com. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  7. ↑ Penna, Peter Della (January 8, 2019). "USA formally approved to rejoin ICC as Associate Member under USA Cricket". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  8. ↑ Penna, Peter Della (November 27, 2018). "USA plan to launch their T20 League in 2021". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  9. ↑ "USA Cricket Chooses Partner to Fund and Develop U.S.-Based Professional T20 Cricket League". USA Cricket . May 23, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  10. ↑ "USA Cricket Board Meeting February 2020". USA Cricket . February 27, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  11. ↑ "USA Cricket re-evaluating Major League Cricket debut timing due to Covid-19 concerns". SportBusiness. August 2, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  12. ↑ "American Major League Cricket tournament launch pushed to 2023 at Annual General Meeting". Inside the Games . May 24, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  13. ↑ Penna, Peter Della (May 21, 2021). "USA's MLC T20 tournament pushed back to 2023 at AGM". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved June 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 June 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 June 9, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Minor League Cricket Announces Player Registration Opening". USA Cricket . July 7, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Minor League Cricket Announces Franchise Owners and Draft Update". USA Cricket . August 15, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Inaugural Minor League Cricket Draft to Take Place Today". USA Cricket . August 22, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Four More Minor League Teams Complete Squad Selections". USA Cricket . September 12, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  20. ↑ Hays, Nate (September 19, 2020). "Four new Minor League teams set for exhibition debuts". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  21. ↑ "USA Cricket Launches Foundational Plan". USA Cricket . October 15, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  22. ↑ "American Cricket History to be Made on Minor League Cricket Opening Weekend". Major League Cricket . USA Cricket. July 29, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  23. ↑ Bodiwala, Suresh (September 17, 2021). "Chicago Blasters defend title against Chicago Catchers". Daily Herald . Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  24. ↑ Lyons, Joe (August 23, 2021). "St. Louis Americans are part of new U.S. cricket league". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Titles and Sponsors Announced for 2022 Minor League Cricket Championships". Indo-Asian News Service . May 17, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
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