Ground information | |||||
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Location | Prairie View, Waller County, Texas | ||||
Coordinates | 30°05′14.4″N96°00′23.3″W / 30.087333°N 96.006472°W | ||||
Establishment | 2018 | ||||
Capacity | 10,000 | ||||
Owner | Tanweer Ahmed | ||||
Operator | Kalsoom Prairie View Cricket Association | ||||
Tenants | Major League Cricket Houston Hurricanes Houston Cricket League United States cricket team | ||||
End names | |||||
Forest End Highway End | |||||
International information | |||||
First T20I | 7 April 2024: United States v Canada | ||||
Last T20I | 25 May 2024: United States v Bangladesh | ||||
Team information | |||||
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As of 25 May 2024 Source: ESPNcricinfo |
The Prairie View Cricket Complex (PVCC) is a group of six cricket grounds located in the city of Prairie View, part of the Greater Houston area, in Waller County, Texas, United States. [1] The facility is joint-owned by Tanweer Ahmed and Major League Cricket. [2]
In January 2018, Houston developer David Wolff, along with Pakistani American businessman Tanweer Ahmed joint-purchased 86 acres of land in Prairie View, Texas to build a cricket complex. [3] Construction on the complex started by March 2018, in which two cricket grounds were scheduled to open by April 2018. [4] They opened four more cricket grounds in September 2018 as part of its first phase. [5] Upon opening, the complex hosted three cricket matches of the Houston Cricket League. [6] By July of 2022, a total of 14 cricket grounds were opened at the venue. [7]
In May 2019, the United States national cricket team played its first match at this venue. [8] By July of that same year, six cricket grounds had opened. [9] Construction continued throughout September of that year, [10] before ending and being ready for use in December 2019. [11] For the first half of 2020, it would be used as a venue for the Houston Cricket League, [12] before being used by the Houston Hurricanes as their home ground for the exhibition league of Minor League Cricket. [13]
It served as the host of the Houston Open 2021 (which was sanctioned by USA Cricket) in early April of that year. [14] It also hosted the United States Men's Under-19 National Championship, [15] in which the Mid-Atlantic Zone were crowned champions. [16] Later that month, it was also announced by USA Cricket that the venue would become the first official Major League Cricket National Cricket Center, and, as part of their joint-venture deal, they would add eight new turf practice nets and wickets, upgrading three cricket pitches to a high-quality natural turf wicket, and build a cricket pavilion, which would cater for both men and women players. [2] It was also announced that Tanweer Ahmed, along with PVCC Head of Operations, Mangesh Chaudhari would be added to the investor group in Major League Cricket, and that they both would also co-own the Houston Hurricanes, which was announced in August of the same year. [17] Additionally, the venue hosted a series of practice games between two Major League Cricket squads, and a United States Training Group. [18] The practice series featured the likes of Corey Anderson, Sami Aslam, Dane Piedt and more. [19] Similarly, it was the home ground to the Houston Hurricanes during the inaugural season of Minor League Cricket from July 31 to September 12, 2021. [20]
It was also announced on August 28, 2021, that the venue would be the host of the inaugural USA Cricket national men's 50-over championship, which took place from November 15-19, 2021 (changed from a November 12-20 schedule [21] due to the revised schedule of the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier). [22]
In March 2022, it was announced that the venue would undergo a $3 million renovation ahead of MLC and the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. [23] [24] In May 2022, the venue hosted warm-up and practice games ahead of 2 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 series at Moosa Stadium. [25] Additionally, from June to July 2022, the venue was used again by the Hurricanes in their 2022 campaign of Minor League Cricket. [23] In December of the same year, it was announced that the venue – alongside other venues such as Central Broward Stadium, Moosa Stadium, and the Grand Prairie Stadium – were likely to host matches in the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. [26]
Upon opening in September 2018, the venue hosted matches of the Houston Cricket League throughout 2019 and 2020. [6] [27] The United States national cricket team played their first cricket match at this venue in May 2019. [8] The following years, it was used as the Houston Hurricanes' home ground in both the exhibition league (in which Mayor David Allen was invited to see) [28] and the inaugural season of Minor League Cricket. [29] [30] In April 2021, the venue hosted the USA Cricket-sanctioned Houston Open 2021, [31] in which the Nepali Rhinos took the trophy. [32] Later that month, it also hosted the United States Men's Under-19 National Championship, in which the Mid-Atlantic Zone was crowned champions. [33] The same month, the venue hosted a series of practice matches between a United States Training Group and two Major League Cricket squads, [34] which featured many international cricketers such as Shayan Jahangir, Dane Piedt, and others. [35]
In August 2021, it was announced that the venue would be hosting the first inaugural United States Men's National Championship, which featured eight teams, and spanned from November 15-19, 2021 (changed from a November 12-20 schedule [36] [37] due to the revised schedule of the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier). [22]
The western ground in the complex hosted two official international series in April and May 2024, with the United States men's team playing Canada in a 5-match T20I series and Bangladesh in a 3-match T20I series. [38]
The United States men's national cricket team is the team that represents the United States in international cricket. The team was formerly organized by the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA), which became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1965. In June 2017, the USACA was expelled by the ICC due to governance and financing issues, with the U.S. team being temporarily overseen by ICC Americas until a new sanctioning body was established. In January 2019, associate membership was officially granted to USA Cricket.
Grand Prairie Stadium is a cricket ground and former ballpark in Grand Prairie, Texas. Opened in May 2008, it served as the home stadium of the Texas AirHogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball from 2008 through 2019, and of the USL League Two soccer team Texas United from 2017 to 2019.
Cricket in the United States is a sport played at the amateur, club, intercollegiate and international competition levels with little popularity, with 200,000 players across the country. Major League Cricket is the highest level of domestic T20 cricket currently played in America, with T20 being the format of the game that much of the recent growth in American cricket is occurring in.
Smart Choice Moosa Stadium is a cricket stadium in Pearland, Texas. The stadium is owned by Smart Choice, a former sponsor of the United States national cricket team. It is named after Smart Choice CEO Sakhi Muhammad’s father. It is home to American College Cricket.
USA Cricket (USAC) is the governing body of cricket in the United States. USA Cricket operates all of the United States national representative cricket sides, including the men's and women's national teams and youth teams, as well as Major League Cricket, which is the highest level of domestic American Twenty20 cricket.
The 2019–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 was the first edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, a cricket tournament which formed part of the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualification process. The tournament was played from August 2019 to March 2023, with all matches played as One Day Internationals (ODIs). Each set of fixtures was planned to take place as a tri-series.
Church Street Park is a cricket ground in Morrisville, North Carolina, United States. In September 2018, it hosted the matches in the Northern sub-region group of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier tournament. In May 2019, the International Cricket Council (ICC) stated that the ground would host six One Day International (ODI) matches in the 2019 United States Tri-Nation Series. However, in July 2019, it was announced that either a new venue in Morgan Hill, California, or the Leo Magnus Cricket Complex in Woodley Park in Los Angeles would host the tournament.
The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup will be the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup, a biennial Twenty20 International (T20I) tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It is scheduled to be co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States from 1 to 29 June 2024. It will be the first ICC World Cup tournament to feature matches played in the United States, and in any other country in the Americas outside the West Indies. England are the defending champions, having defeated Pakistan in the final of the previous edition.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to cricket around the world, mirroring its impact across all sports. Around the world and to varying degrees, leagues and competitions have been cancelled or postponed.
Major League Cricket (MLC) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in the United States. Operated by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and sanctioned by USA Cricket, it began play on July 13, 2023, with six teams representing major US cities under a single-entity model. The first season took place over three weeks at Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas, and Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina, concluding on July 30, 2023. In 2021, the development league for MLC, Minor League Cricket (MiLC), completed its inaugural season, which was contested by 27 franchise-based teams.
Minor League Cricket is an American Twenty20 cricket developmental league for Major League Cricket which completed its first season in 2021, after it was delayed from a mid-to-late 2020 start due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It consists of 26 teams from four regions. The league began its regional draft process in late-August 2020, and a series of exhibition games in September 2020. The draft for the league began on June 4, 2021. The Strikers won the inaugural finals against the New Jersey Stallions by six wickets, with the Thunderbolts winning the 2022 finals against the Atlanta Fire by ten runs.
The Seattle Thunderbolts are an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that compete in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The team is based in Seattle, Washington. It was formed in 2021 as part of 3 new teams to compete in Minor League Cricket. The franchise is owned by Seattle Sports LLC, as part of its cricket development program, owned by Phani Chitneni, Vijay Beniwal, and Salman Taj.
The Houston Hurricanes 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. The franchise is owned by Tanweer Ahmed and Mangesh Chaudhari.
The SoCal Lashings, also known as the Los Angeles Lashings, are an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in Minor League Cricket (MiLC) and other T20 Cricket tournaments across the USA. The team's home base is in Los Angeles. Lashings was named in 2020 as part of the 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket USA. The franchise is co-owned by Abhimanyu Rajp and Deepak Gosain.
The New Jersey Stallions are an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The team is based in Somerset, New Jersey. It was formed in 2020 as part of 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket. The team is co-owned by businessmen Venu Palaparthi and Ravikumar Suri.
The Hollywood Master Blasters was an American professional Twenty20 cricket franchise that competed in Minor League Cricket (MiLC) till the 2022 season. The team was based in Los Angeles, California. It was formed in 2020 as part of 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket. The franchise is owned by Janak Patel.
The San Diego Surf Riders are an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in San Diego, California, that competes in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The Surf Riders began play in the 2021 season. The team's home ground is Canyonside Park, located in the community of Rancho Peñasquitos.
The Golden State Grizzlies are an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that compete in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The team is based in Sacramento, California. It was formed in 2020 as part of 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket. The franchise is owned by ACE.
The Lone Star 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. The franchise is owned by Kuldeep Patel and Sakhi Muhammad.
Tanweer Ahmed is a Pakistani businessman, investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Tanweer is the owner of the Prairie View Cricket Complex the current largest cricket complex in Houston, Texas. He is the founder of a brand of food chains and North Coast Couriers, the largest transportation company in California. He is also the owner of Houston Hurricanes cricket franchise.