Whilst Washington Freedom didn’t go all the way in the inaugural edition of Major League Cricket, there were still plenty of positives to take from the 2023 season.
Defeat against MI New York in the Eliminator meant that Freedom’s campaign to an earlier end than hoped, but that didn’t take away from what had ultimately been a very successful campaign for the team both on-and-off the pitch.
In total, Freedom won three and lost three of the six matches they played, with victories coming against Texas Super Kings, LA Knight Riders and San Francisco Unicorns, three performances that included standout showings from the likes of Matt Short with the bat, Glenn Phillips in the field and Saurabh Netravalkar with the ball. In particular, Netravalkar’s bowling figures of 6-9 against the Unicorns will live long in the memory. They were the best individual bowling figures in the competition and it is a record that is likely to stand for many a year to come.
But it wasn’t just on the field that Freedom had reasons to be proud, as the partnership with George Mason University was officially launched, as well as a visit to the local Dallas Youth Premier League being made (and organised) by our players – Usman Rafiq, Netravalkar and Mukthar Ahmed.
“Once we qualified for finals, we had the belief that we could win the title but unfortunately, our tournament concluded in the eliminator in a game we should have won,” said General Manager Michael Klinger.
“But the overriding emotion was one of pride in that we performed well in the inaugural MLC and put together a strong squad and backroom staff that connected off the pitch as much as they did on and led to a fantastic team environment. This was supported by having an owner in Sanjay Govil and his family who genuinely cared about the wellbeing of his players and staff. We’re in a good spot and we can’t wait to have another go in 2024.”
Partnership with George Mason University announced: