The SoCal Lashings, also known as the Los Angeles Lashings, are an American professional

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...

franchise

cricket team 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 stri ...

that competes in

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 ...

(MiLC) and other T20 Cricket tournaments across the USA. The team's home base is in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Lashings was named in 2020 as part of the 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket USA. The franchise is co-owned by

Abhimanyu Rajp Abhimanyu Rajp (born 8 March 1986) is an Indian born American cricketer. Rajp is a right-arm off-spin bowler and a right handed batsman. Rajp currently represents the United States national cricket team. Career Early years Rajp was born in Lud ...

and Deepak Gosain. The team's current home ground is the

Leo Magnus Cricket Complex The Leo Magnus Cricket Complex (LMCC) is a group of four cricket grounds located in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. The facility is also called Woodley Cricket Field(s) or Woodley Cricket Complex due to its l ...

, located in the neighborhood of Van Nuys,

Dale Phillips Dale Nathan Phillips (born 15 October 1998) is a New Zealand cricketer. He was educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland where he played cricket. He made his first-class debut on 21 October 2019, for Otago in the 2019–20 Plunket Shield seas ...

currently helms responsibility as captain, with

Elmore Hutchinson Elmore Howard Hutchinson (born 11 August 1982) is an American cricketer of Jamaican origin. He made his debut for the American national side in March 2012. Biography Born in Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica, after emigrating to the U.S. Hutchinson ...

standing by as

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the r ...

Franchise history

Background

Talks of an American

league started in November 2018 just before

USA Cricket USA Cricket (USAC) is the governing body of cricket in the United States. USA Cricket operates all of the United States national representative cricket sides, including the men's and women's national teams and youth teams, as well as Minor Lea ...

became the new governing body of cricket in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In May 2021,

announced they had accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1 billion investment covering the league and other investments benefitting the U.S. national teams. In an Annual General Meeting on February 21, 2020, it was announced that

was planning to launch

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 ...

in 2021 and

that summer, but it was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and due to the lack of high-quality cricket stadiums in the USA.

was pushed to a summer-2023 launch and

was pushed back to July 31, 2021.

CEO Iain Higgins also pointed out cities such as

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

and

with a large cricket fanbase, and targeted them among others as launch cities for

Exhibition league

In July 2020, the player registration for the Minor League Cricket exhibition league began. On August 15, 2020,

announced the teams participating in the exhibition league matches, also listing the owners for each team. The draft for the exhibition league began on August 22, 2020, with the Lashings releasing their squad on August 24.

was later named as captain for the Los Angeles Lashings for the exhibition league.

Minor League Cricket

2021: After the conclusion of the exhibition league,

announced that they were planning to launch the inaugural season of

in spring 2021. Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31, the Lashings announced former USA National Team member

to continue his role as captain with

helming

duties. In their first match of the season, the Lashings defeated the Surf Riders by 4 wickets in a last-over thriller. They then went on to lose to the Blazers and to the Grizzlies, but came back to win against the

Strikers Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

by 4 wickets the following week. They then went on a 8-game losing streak, losing to the

, the Grizzlies, the Blazers, the Thunderbolts twice, the Athletics, the Mustangs, and the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

before winning against the Surf Riders and the Master Blasters to end out the group stage. The Lashings finished out in 5th place, thus failing to qualify for the play-offs. 2022: Ahead of the 2022 season,

announced that the draft for that season would take place on May 12.

took over the Captain's responsibility in 2022 season, along with

Katene Clarke Katene Clarke (born 21 September 1999) is a New Zealand cricketer. He made his List A cricket, List A debut on 17 November 2019, for Northern Districts men's cricket team, Northern Districts in the 2019–20 Ford Trophy. Prior to his List A debut ...

signed as the overseas recruits for the year. 2023: Lashings finished one win away from qualifying for the playoffs in their third season.

Current squad

* Players with international caps are listed in bold.

References

{{Cricket in the United States Minor League Cricket teams Cricket clubs established in 2020 2020 establishments in California