Freedom skipper gives his thoughts on the inaugural edition of Major League Cricket.
Washington Freedom captain Moises Henriques was full of praise for the competition and also his teammates as he reflected on the first ever fully professional cricket tournament to be played in the USA.
Freedom were knocked out in the Eliminator, but after almost a month together, a strong bond within the team had grown as well as a respect for the competition that had carried an element of the unknown when first arriving in Texas.
“It feels like a success as a player because it’s very enjoyable to play in,” said Henriques. “And I’m hoping that it’s received well by the public and that us as players can keep coming back in years to come.
“There’s a lot of noise, there’s a lot of people here and hopefully the numbers match up to the atmosphere and what it feels like in the games. But from a players perspective, it feels like a success.”
Much of the the enjoyment for Henriques stemmed from a team-first environment and group that bonded off-the-pitch as much as on it.
“I know it gets said a lot but we really do have a great bunch of people work for us and play for us and it’s made my experience as captain very enjoyable,” continued Henriques.
“We’ve got a lot of great leaders in the team, so in that sense it’s made my job a lot easier as well.
“Hopefully they can keep a big core of the group together because I think it’s a very special group and a very selfless group as well. Everyone in the team treats everyone equally and it’s just made for a really fun few weeks.
“All of the players and staff were team first. No one was bigger than anyone else in the team, other than Marco [Jansen], of course, but that’s because he’s six-foot-eight!
“If Washington can keep that sort of mentality up in years to come it’ll be a very good play to play cricket.”
Watch the full interview here: