Washington Freedom (cricket)

Washington Freedom were the first of the six Major League Cricket teams to release their name and logo, doing so in March 2023.

The team's colors are red, white and blue, reflecting a "patriotic" connection to Washington D.C, the nation's capital, with the name Freedom signifying the team's standing for democracy and a further connection to the local area.

The crest - also red, white and blue - features the stars from the Washington D.C. flag and, "a bat and ball representing cricket, the world's second most popular sport."[4]

Team owner, Sanjay Govil, said upon the unveiling: "The team’s mark and colors are a perfect fit for a team from the nation’s capital to compete on the global stage."[4]

In a first of its kind partnership, Cricket New South Wales joined forces with Major League Cricket, in a deal which included teaming up specifically with Washington Freedom. The overarching league partnership is designed to give players from NSW opportunities in both Major and Minor League Cricket, and equally provide American players and teams with the opportunity to train, tour and play in NSW. In an interview with Emerging Cricket, CNSW CEO Lee Germon said, "the essence of that [MLC] partnership is we want to help build the whole eco-system within the country. Coach development, player development and academy development."[5]

By way of contrast, The Washington Freedom deal is based on high-performance and designed to give the franchise a "head start" in recruitment and player analysis.

“We know T20 cricket," said Germon. "We run two clubs [Sydney Sixers & Sydney Thunder], we’ve done it for 12, 13 years, we can almost come in here and hopefully give the Washington franchise a head start in terms of where it goes and where it operates."[5]

The partnership was born from a desire by owner Sanjay Govil to go a different route from many of the competitors in MLC who have opted for partnerships with IPL franchises.

"There were probably two or three investors who wanted to look outside of an IPL partnership," said Germon. "And it started focusing in on Sanjay at Washington DC because he was very keen to not have an IPL partner, but partner with someone outside who could really bring what he wanted to the table."[6]

Cricket NSW's representation with Washington Freedom is led by former Australian international Michael Klinger and Patrick Farhat, who has previously worked with the India men's national team.

Freedom used their first two overseas picks to select South African quick bowler Anrich Nortje and Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga. Nortje is known for being one of the fastest bowlers in the world, with legendary Australian batter David Warner describing the spell Nortje bowled to him in the 2022 Boxing Day Test as, "the fastest I've ever faced."[7] Meanwhile, Hasaranga has been ranked as the number one T20I bowler by the ICC for much of the previous two years.[8]

Both players were unveiled at the inaugural MLC draft, hosted at the NASA Johnson Space Center on March 19, 2023, where Washington Freedom picked a further nine players. Freedom used their first pick to select South African-born wicket-keeper Andries Gous as their $75,000 pick. Other notable selections included current USA men's player Saurabh Netravalkar in the fourth round for $40,000 and former South African international Dane Piedt in the sixth round for $25,000. Piedt was the highest profile draft pick for Freedom, having previously played nine Test matches for South Africa.[9]

Freedom announced the signing of Marco Jansen on May 1, 2023. The all-rounder became the third member of Washington's squad to have played Test cricket for South Africa after Piedt and Nortje. Ahead of the tournament, Freedom also added Kiwi internationals Glenn Phillips and Adam Milne to their squad.

Whilst no home matches will be played in the 2023 season, Washington Freedom have partnered with George Mason University with a view to constructing a multi-purpose cricket and baseball facility that will be operational from 2025.

"The ballpark would be designed to host MLC matches, Mason baseball games, and other events on the University’s Fairfax Campus in the Washington D.C. region."

The ballpark will be located "in the heart of one of the largest cricket-loving populations in the United States and feature an international-grade arena."[4]

A feasibility study is currently under way with more information on the plans due to be released later this year.

• Players with international caps are listed in bold.

S/N	Name	Nat.	Date of Birth (age)	Batting Style	Bowling Style	Other
Batsmen
	Andries Gous		(1993-11-24) November 24, 1993	Right-handed		Wicket-Keeper
	Mukhtar Ahmed		(1992-12-20) December 20, 1992	Right-handed	Right-arm Legbreak Googly
	Saad Ali		(1992-12-20) December 20, 1992	Left-handed
	Sujith Gowda		(1996-10-23) October 23, 1996	Right-handed	Right-arm Off Spin
	Glenn Phillips		December 6, 1996 (age 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm Off Spin	Wicket-Keeper
All Rounders
	Wanindu Hasaranga		(1997-07-29) July 29, 1997	Right-handed	Right-arm Leg Spin
	Jacobus Pienaar		(1989-12-12) December 12, 1989	Right-handed	Left-arm Off Spin
	Justin Dill		(1994-11-10) November 10, 1994	Right-handed	Right-arm Medium Fast
	Marco Jansen		May 1, 2000 (Age 23)	Right-handed	Left-arm Fast Medium
Bowlers
	Anrich Nortje		(1993-11-16) November 16, 1993	Right-handed	Right-arm Fast
	Saurabh Netravalkar		(1991-10-16) October 16, 1991	Right-handed	Left-arm Medium Fast
	Dane Piedt		(1990-03-06) March 6, 1990	Right-handed	Right-arm Off Spin
	Akhilesh Bodugum		(2000-04-28) April 28, 2000	Right-handed	Right-arm Off Spin
	Adam Milne		April 13, 1991 (age 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm Fast