MLC 2025: Washington Freedom aim for back-to-back titles
Reigning champions Washington Freedom are gearing up to defend their Major League Cricket (MLC) crown in the upcoming 2025 season under the captaincy of Glenn Maxwell.
Glenn Maxwell will lead the Freedom squad in Cognizant Major League Cricket 2025. Steve Smith will captain the side in the two games he plays during the season.
Under the guidance of head coach Ricky Ponting and the astute leadership of Steve Smith, we clinched our maiden MLC title by defeating the San Francisco Unicorns by 96 runs in the 2024 Championship in Dallas.
Earlier, we stormed into the MLC 2024 playoffs after finishing as league toppers with 11 points from seven matches. We registered five wins, suffered one loss, while one game was abandoned due to rain. We then beat the San Francisco Unicorns by seven wickets in the Qualifier to secure our place in the 2024 Championship.
Aiming for back-to-back MLC titles, we have retained most of the players from our championship-winning squad.
Skipper Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Rachin Ravindra, Jack Edwards, and Lockie Ferguson are the five overseas players we have retained. However, Smith will feature in only two matches due to his national team commitments.
Ahead of the MLC 2025 season, we have strengthened our squad with key additions: Australia’s rising T20 star Mitchell Owen, New Zealand batter Mark Chapman, Kiwi wicketkeeper-batter Glenn Phillips, Australian left-arm pacer Jason Behrendorff, and New Zealand fast bowler Ben Sears.
We have also prioritized retaining the domestic core that played a pivotal role in securing our first-ever MLC title.
Andries Gous, Mukhtar Ahmed, Obus Pienaar, Saurabh Netravalkar, Ian Holland, Amila Aponso, Justin Dill, Lahiru Milantha, and Yasir Mohammad have all been retained for the upcoming season.
In addition, USA’s left-arm seamer Abhishek Paradkar has been added through the recent draft to further bolster our squad.
Washington Freedom squad for MLC 2025
Steve Smith, Mukhtar Ahmed, Mark Chapman, Glenn Maxwell (C), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Jack Edwards, Ian Holland, Justin Dill, Mitchell Owen, Obus Pienaar, Saurabh Netravalkar, Lockie Ferguson, Jason Behrendorff, Ben Sears, Abhishek Paradkar, Amila Aponso, Yasir Mohammad, Andries Gous, Lahiru Milantha
Head Coach: Ricky Ponting
Assistant Coach: James Hopes & Shawn Bradstreet
General Manager: Michael Klinger
Meanwhile, we will begin our MLC 2025 campaign against the San Francisco Unicorns in a repeat of last season’s Championship, to be played at the Oakland Coliseum in California on June 12.
According to the MLC 2025 schedule, we will play three matches in California before heading to Dallas for four league games at Grand Prairie Stadium.
We will wrap up the league stage with our final three matches at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill, Florida.
The top four teams in the standings after all league matches will advance to the MLC 2025 playoffs, which will include the Qualifier, Eliminator, Challenger, and the Championship on July 13. All Playoff games will be held at Grand Prairie Stadium.
Washington Freedom’s MLC 2025 schedule and timings
Day and Date | Match | Venue | Time (Local) | Time (ET) | Date & Time (IST) |
Thursday, June 12 | San Francisco Unicorns vs Washington Freedom | Oakland Coliseum, California | 6:00 PM | 9:00 PM | June 13, 6:30 AM IST |
Saturday, June 14 | Seattle Orcas vs Washington Freedom | Oakland Coliseum, California | 6:00 PM | 9:00 PM | June 15, 6:30 AM IST |
Tuesday, June 17 | Washington Freedom vs Los Angeles Knight Riders | Oakland Coliseum, California | 6:00 PM | 9:00 PM | June 17, 6:30 AM IST |
Saturday, June 21 | MI New York vs Washington Freedom | Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas | 7:00 PM | 8:00 PM | June 22, 5:30 AM IST |
Sunday, June 22 | Washington Freedom vs Texas Super Kings | Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas | 7:00 PM | 8:00 PM | June 23, 5:30 AM IST |
Thursday, June 26 | Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Washington Freedom | Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas | 7:00 PM | 8:00 PM | June 27, 5:30 AM IST |
Saturday, June 28 | Washington Freedom vs San Francisco Unicorns | Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas | 3:00 PM | 4:00 PM | June 29, 1:30 AM IST |
Wednesday, July 2 | Texas Super Kings vs Washington Freedom | Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida | 7:00 PM | 7:00 PM | July 3, 4:30 AM IST |
Friday, July 4 | Washington Freedom vs Seattle Orcas | Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida | 7:00 PM | 7:00 PM | July 5, 4:30 AM IST |
Sunday, July 6 | Washington Freedom vs MI New York | Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida | 3:00 PM | 3:00 PM | July 7, 12:30 AM IST |
Having assembled a formidable squad with a good mix of experienced and young players, we have firmly set our sights on claiming back-to-back MLC titles.
