The San Francisco Unicorns are an American franchise

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team based in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California that competes in

Major League Cricket Major League Cricket (MLC) is an upcoming professional Twenty20 cricket league in the United States. Operated by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and sanctioned by USA Cricket, it plans to begin play on July 13, 2023, with six teams in major ...

(MLC). In 2023, it was announced as one of the six teams to participate in the league's inaugural season. The team is owned by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, co-founders of Cambrian ventures. Plans are underway to build a stadium at the

Santa Clara County Fairgrounds The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds is an event venue in San Jose, California. The fairgrounds has been owned by the County of Santa Clara since 1940 and is operated by the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Management Corporation, a public-benefit n ...

. The stadium is expected to have a capacity of 15,000 people. During the first MLC season the team will play at

Grand Prairie stadium Grand Prairie Stadium (formerly QuikTrip Park and AirHogs Stadium) is a cricket ground and former ballpark in Grand Prairie, Texas. Opened in May 2008, it served as the home stadium of the Texas AirHogs of the American Association of Professio ...

in Texas. In March 2023,

Cricket Victoria Cricket Victoria (CV) is the governing body for the sport of cricket in the Australian state of Victoria. It was formed on 29 September 1875 as the Victorian Cricket Association. It is integrated with the Victorian Women's Cricket Association to ...

announced their partnership with the Unicorns for the opening season.

History

Background

Cricket has been growing steadily in San Jose, thanks to cricket clubs like the Northern California Cricket Alliance. Looking at these growing numbers, the county supervisors have been planning to build a stadium in the Santa Clara Fairgrounds. The Unicorns' minor league affiliate are East Bay Blazers, which competes in the developmental league,

Minor League Cricket Minor League Cricket (branded as the Toyota Minor League Cricket Championship presented by Sling TV for sponsorship reasons, and sometimes shortened to MiLC) is an American Twenty20 cricket developmental league for Major League Cricket which com ...

, and were the Western Division champions of the 2023 edition. In March 2023, the team ownership, name, and logo was unveiled prior to the inaugural MLC domestic draft. The team is owned by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, and the team partnered with the Australia's

for the first season. Justin Gaele, MLC tournament director emphasizing about the Unicorns, told that the Bay Area could serve as the launchpad for cricket in the United States.

2023 season

The Unicorns signed the first overseas player signed in the inaugural MLC — Australian international

Aaron Finch Aaron James Finch (born 17 November 1986) is a Australian international cricketer who captains the Australian cricket team in T20I and formerly captained the national team in ODI cricket. Finch currently holds the record for two of the three h ...

. He was subsequently announced as the captain. Corey Anderson, Liam Plunkett,

Tajinder Singh Tajinder Singh (born 25 May 1992) is an Indian cricketer. Career Tajinder made his Twenty20 debut for Rajasthan in the 2016–17 Inter State Twenty-20 Tournament on 30 January 2017. He made his List A debut for Rajasthan in the 2016–17 Vija ...

and Smit Patel were prominent names picked in the domestic round of the draft;

Marcus Stoinis Marcus Peter Stoinis (born 16 August 1989) is an Australian cricketer who plays limited overs cricket for the Australian national team. He is contracted to Western Australia and Melbourne Stars domestically, and has previously also played for P ...

was also announced as another overseas signing by the Unicorns. In May 2023, the team announced direct signing of South African pacer,

Lungi Ngidi Lungisani True-man Ngidi (born 29 March 1996) is a South African professional cricketer who plays for the South Africa national cricket team. In the 2018 South African Cricket Annual Awards, he was named as one of the five Cricketers of the Year ...

. On 20 June 2023, Unicorns announced former Australian all-rounder

Shane Watson Shane Robert Watson (born 17 June 1981) is an Australian former cricketer, and occasional captain in all formats, who has played for Australia's national cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast-medium swing bowler w ...

as their head coach for the 2023 season.

Current squad

* Players with international caps are listed in bold.

Notes

References

{{Authority control Sports clubs and teams in San Francisco Major League Cricket teams 2023 establishments in California Cricket clubs established in 2023