Sports correspondent & historian with Sideline Sid

Kiwi master blaster Finn Allen made cricket watchers throughout the globe sit up and take notice when he blasted a big century in the opening match of MLC (Major League Cricket) season in the US.

Allen was in sensational form with his willow weapon, for the San Francisco Unicorns, smashing 151 runs off 51 balls including a world record 19 sixes in the Twenty 20 encounter.

There has been some welcome relief for this cricket couch potato living without the great game in the depths of the New Zealand winter.

Many Kiwi cricket followers were delighted to stumble upon the Major League Cricket (MLC), beamed out of the US around noon each day, from mid-June to the series final in mid-July.

Albeit a day behind courtesy of the international dateline, the MLC format mirrors the Indian Premier League of Twenty 20 preliminary competition, before the last-team-standing format of finals cricket.

Six teams are spread through the United States in an attempt to introduce the American sporting audience to cricket.

The 2024 MLC champions in the Washington Freedom have been joined by MI New York, Texas Super Kings, Seattle Orcas, San Francisco Unicorns and the LA Knight Riders.

There have been previous attempts to introduce the fast-paced action of T20 cricket to the American sporting public, with little success.

However, the current MLC has a strong ownership base in India, with four of the teams with Indian owners and three sides having direct ties to IPL franchises.

MI New York is part of the Mumbai Indians setup, LA Knight Riders are in the same ownership as the Kolkata Knight Riders, and the Texas Super Kings are tied to the Chennai Super Kings.

It seems obvious that Indian cricket money is behind the attempt to break the vice-like grip that American football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey have on American sports fans.

There is plenty of Kiwi interest in the 2025 MLC competition, with Western Bay of Plenty’s Trent Boult playing for MI New York, alongside a dozen other Black Cap players.

Trent has opened new doors for his contemporaries in opting to become a privateer in recent times, while still available for casual selection for New Zealand.

Modest crowds, that appear to be stage managed in their enthusiasm, suggest US sports fans haven’t forsaken the traditional American sports for cricket.

With MLC streamed into the Asian sub-continent in mid-morning time slots, the success or failure of the US cricket venture seems tied to Indian audiences.

There has been much to like about the American T20 series; with 200+ plus scores posted to be chased down, athletic catches, stumps widely spinning out of the ground and close encounters of the cricket kind.

However, to this writer, it appears that Major League Cricket in the US will continue as long as the owners dig deep into their pockets to continue the venture.