Seattle Thunderbolts

Last updated

Seattle Thunderbolts
Seattle Thunderbolts Logo.jpg
League Minor League Cricket
ConferenceWestern Division (Pacific Conference)
Personnel
Captain Ian Dev Singh
OwnerVijay Beniwal
Phani Chitneni
Salman Taj
Chief executiveVijay Beniwal
Phani Chitneni
Team information
City Seattle, Washington
Colours  Pink, and   Blue.
Founded2021;3 years ago (2021)
Home groundKlahanie Park, Klahanie, Washington
Marymoor Park, Redmond, Washington
History
MiLC  wins1 (2022)
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T20 kit

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. [1] The franchise is owned by Seattle Sports LLC, as part of its cricket development program, owned by Phani Chitneni, Vijay Beniwal, and Salman Taj. [2]

Contents

The team's home ground is Klahanie Park and Marymoor Park, both located in the Eastside region of King County, Washington. [3] Harmeet Singh was named as captain, while Andries Gous was named as vice-captain for the team. [4] for the season Minor League Cricket 2021. Ian Dev Singh was made captain for season 2024 and finished top of the table in Western Division Pecific Conference for Minor League Cricket 2024

The current leading run-scorer is Andries Gous, [5] with the highest wicket-taker being Shadley van Schalkwyk. [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 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]

2021 season

Before the season's drafting, USA Cricket and American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) announced 3 new teams for the 2021 season including the Seattle Thunderbolts, the Manhattan Yorkers, and the St. Louis Americans. [16] Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31, [17] they announced Harmeet Singh as captain and Andries Gous as vice-captain. [2]

For their first four matches of the season, they lost by a margin of 7, 6, 2, and 7 wickets, [18] [19] [20] before going on a 6-match winning streak. [21] [22] Their winning streak was ended due to a 46-run loss against the Michigan Cricket Stars. [23] They then lost back-to-back matches against the Golden State Grizzlies and the East Bay Blazers, [24] before winning by 7 wickets against the Silicon Valley Strikers in their last match of the season. [25]

They ended off the group stage with 7 wins and 7 losses, ending up in 4th place in their division, thus not qualifying for the finals. [26]

2022 season

Ahead of the 2022 season, Major League Cricket announced that the draft for that season would take place on May 12. [27]

Current squad

NameNationalityBirth dateBatting styleBowling styleYear signedNotes
Batsmen
Andries Gous Flag of the United States.svg  United States 24 November 1993 (age 30)Right-handedRight-arm off spin 2021
Deepak RajendranFlag of the United States.svg  United States 9 September 1997 (age 27)Right-handedRight-arm medium 2021
Harmeet Singh Flag of the United States.svg  United States 7 September 1992 (age 32)Right-handed Left-arm orthodox spin 2021
Ian Dev Singh Flag of India.svg  India 1 March 1989 (age 35)Right-handedRight-arm off break 2024Overseas Captain
Manu JacobFlag of the United States.svg  United States 24 April 1984 (age 40)Right-handedRight-arm medium 2021
Nital VasavadaFlag of the United States.svg  United States 15 July 2001 (age 23)Right-handedRight-arm medium 2021
All-rounders
Abir ChippaFlag of the United States.svg  United States 13 February 1995 (age 29)Right-handedRight-arm medium 2021
Damodhar BhatFlag of the United States.svg  United States 17 December 1991 (age 32)Right-handedRight-arm off break 2021
Jagroop RainaFlag of the United States.svg  United States 30 September 1998 (age 26)Left-handedRight-arm medium 2021
Rishab MohanFlag of the United States.svg  United States 10 June 2003 (age 21)Right-handedRight-arm medium 2021
Sahil KancherlaFlag of the United States.svg  United States 25 April 2000 (age 24)Right-handedRight-arm off spin 2021
Shadley van Schalkwyk Flag of the United States.svg  United States 5 August 1988 (age 36)Left-handedLeft-arm fast 2021Overseas
Ujjawal PatelFlag of the United States.svg  United States 19 July 1992 (age 32)Right-handedRight-arm fast medium 2021
Varun PotlapallyFlag of the United States.svg  United States 9 April 1997 (age 27)Right-handedRight-arm off break 2021
Phani SimhadriFlag of the United States.svg  United States 13 May 2002 (age 22)Right-handedRight-arm medium fast 2021
Wicket-keepers
Mudi PrajithFlag of India.svg  India 17 September 1989 (age 35)Right-handed2021Overseas
Bowlers
Anirudh SrinivasFlag of the United States.svg  United States 8 March 1997 (age 27)Right-handedRight-arm medium fast 2021
Manoj PanwarFlag of the United States.svg  United States 5 June 1998 (age 26)Right-handedRight-arm fast 2021

See also

Related Research Articles

Andries Gous is a South African-American cricketer who plays for the Washington Freedom, and the United States national cricket team. Born in South Africa, he represents the United States at the international level.

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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.

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References

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