Owners of Tallawahs and Tridents buy franchises in USA-based T20 competition
USA Cricket released a list of franchise owners this past weekend.
Persaud owns the Fort Lauderdale Lions while Patel, who previously owned Jamaica Tallawahs when they won the CPL in 2016, and who now owns the Tridents, is the principal behind the owner of the Austin Athletics.
The 24-team competition, the result of a partnership between USA Cricket and American Cricket Enterprises, was set to begin later this year was postponed because of the pandemic.
However, they remain enthusiastic about the competition.
“We have spent the last several weeks on-boarding franchise owners. We have always been aware of the deep-rooted enthusiasm for cricket in the United States. However, the passion that this group of owners has for growing cricket in this country far exceeded any expectations we had when we commenced this process. We are excited to embark on this journey with them and look forward to the upcoming Minor League Cricket Draft,” said Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan of American Cricket Enterprises.
“In consultation with team owners, the decision has been made to reschedule the Minor League Cricket Draft for Saturday, August 22.
“This decision was made to provide teams with additional time to evaluate players and allow further planning in advance of the Draft. All players who have completed the player registration process will be eligible to be drafted onto a MiLC team for the upcoming Franchise Exhibition Matches. Players who are selected will be notified by Minor League Cricket, with final team rosters to be announced publicly in due course.”
According to USA Cricket, the USA has an estimated 20 million fans of cricket.