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Hollywood Master Blasters
LeagueMinor League Cricket
ConferenceWestern Division (Pacific Conference)
Personnel
CaptainNisarg Patel
OwnerJanak Patel
Team information
CityLos Angeles, California
Colours  Dark Blue, and   Yellow.
Founded2020; 4 years ago (2020)
Dissolved2023
Home groundLeo Magnus Cricket Complex
Capacity5,000

T20 kit

The Hollywood Master Blasters was an American professional Twenty20 cricket franchise that competed in Minor League Cricket (MiLC) till the 2022 season. The team was based in Los Angeles, California. It was formed in 2020 as part of 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket.[1] The franchise is owned by Janak Patel.[1]

The team's home ground was the Leo Magnus Cricket Complex, located in Van Nuys, California.[2] American veteran Nisarg Patel helms captaincy duties, with South African cricketer Cody Chetty standing by as vice-captain.[3]

Cody Chetty and Venukalyan Madireddy top the batting and bowling leaderboards with 470 runs and 13 wickets respectively.[4][5]

Franchise history

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Background

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Talks of an American Twenty20 league started in November 2018 just before USA Cricket became the new governing body of cricket in the United States.[6][7] In May 2021, USA Cricket announced they had accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a US$1 billion investment covering the league and other investments benefitting the U.S. national teams.[8]

In an Annual General Meeting on February 21, 2020, it was announced that USA Cricket was planning to launch Major League Cricket in 2021 and Minor League Cricket that summer,[9] but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic[10] and due to the lack of high-quality cricket stadiums in the USA.[11] Major League Cricket was pushed to a summer-2023 launch[12] and Minor League Cricket was pushed back to July 31, 2021.[13]

USA Cricket CEO Iain Higgins also pointed out cities such as New York City, Houston and Los Angeles with a large cricket fanbase, and targeted them among others as launch cities for Minor League Cricket.[14]

Exhibition league

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In July 2020, the player registration[15] for the Minor League Cricket exhibition league began.[16] On August 15, 2020, USA Cricket announced the teams participating in the exhibition league matches, also listing the owners for each team.[1] The draft for the exhibition league began on August 22, 2020,[17] with the Hollywood Master Blasters releasing their squad on August 24.[18] Amitoze Singh was later named as captain for the Hollywood Master Blasters for the exhibition league.[18] However, the Blasters didn't play a single game due to COVID-19 restrictions.[19]

2021 season

[edit]
See also: 2021 Minor League Cricket season § Pacific Conference

After the conclusion of the exhibition league, USA Cricket announced that they were planning to launch the inaugural season of Minor League Cricket in spring 2021.[20] Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31,[21] the Lashings announced Nisarg Patel as captain with Cody Chetty helming vice-captain duties.[3]

In their first match of the season, the Blasters lost by 5 wickets to the Surf Riders.[22] The Blasters only won twice throughout the league, once against the Strikers,[23] and once against the Lashings.[24] They lost against the Grizzlies twice,[25][23] the Strikers,[25] the Thunderbolts twice,[26] the Blazers twice,[23] the Surf Riders,[27] the Lashings,[24] the Hurricanes, the Athletics, and the Mustangs.[28] The Blasters finished off with 2 wins and 13 losses, finishing bottom of the table in their group, thus missing the play-offs.

2022 season

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Ahead of the 2022 season, Major League Cricket announced that the draft for that season would take place on May 12. This was also the final season for the Franchise.[29]

Current squad

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  • Players with international caps are listed in bold.
Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Year signed Notes
Batsmen
Aaroh Rawat  United States (1996-04-17) 17 April 1996 (age 28) Right-handed Right-arm fast medium 2021
Basanta Regmi    Nepal (1986-04-06) 6 April 1986 (age 38) Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox 2021 Overseas
Cody Chetty  South Africa (1991-06-28) 28 June 1991 (age 33) Right-handed Right-arm off break 2021 Overseas
Kanishka Chaugai  United States (1986-01-24) 24 January 1986 (age 38) Right-handed Right-arm medium 2021
Prithu Baskota    Nepal (1992-07-05) 5 July 1992 (age 32) Right-handed Right-arm off break 2021 Overseas
Pukar Patel  United States (1992-07-15) 15 July 1992 (age 32) Right-handed Right-arm fast medium 2021
Shehan Fernando  Sri Lanka (1993-04-14) 14 April 1993 (age 31) Right-handed Right-arm off break 2021 Overseas
All-rounders
Ajay Immadi  United States (1990-03-10) 10 March 1990 (age 34) Right-handed Right-arm off break 2021
Khalid Khan  Hong Kong (1971-02-07) 7 February 1971 (age 53) Right-handed Right-arm medium fast 2021 Overseas
Nisarg Patel  United States (1988-04-20) 20 April 1988 (age 36) Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox 2021
Dhyan Ranatunga  Sri Lanka (1989-06-01) 1 June 1989 (age 35) Right-handed Left-arm medium fast 2021 Overseas
Jignesh Patel  India (1987-01-03) 3 January 1987 (age 37) Right-handed Left-arm medium 2021 Overseas
Karan Viradiya  India (1994-10-17) 17 October 1994 (age 30) Right-handed Right-arm off break 2021 Overseas
Venukalyan Madireddy  United States (1992-11-14) 14 November 1992 (age 31) Right-handed Right-arm fast 2021
Bowlers
Amitoze Singh  India (1989-02-14) 14 February 1989 (age 35) Right-handed Right-arm medium 2021 Overseas
Wicket-keepers
Samarth Jaydev  United States (1991-06-03) 3 June 1991 (age 33) Right-handed Right-arm leg break 2021

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Minor League Cricket Announces Franchise Owners and Draft Update". USA Cricket. August 15, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  2. ^ "Minor League Division Preview Series – Western". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. August 1, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Wilson, Jonhenry (June 7, 2021). "Corne Dry joins Atlanta Fire, Cody Chetty to play for Hollywood Master Blasters". Club Cricket SA Info. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  4. ^ "Hollywood Master Blasters - Batting". CricClubs.com. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "Hollywood Master Blasters - Bowling". CricClubs.com. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  6. ^ Penna, Peter Della (January 8, 2019). "USA formally approved to rejoin ICC as Associate Member under USA Cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Penna, Peter Della (November 27, 2018). "USA plan to launch their T20 League in 2021". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  8. ^ "USA Cricket Chooses Partner to Fund and Develop U.S.-Based Professional T20 Cricket League". USA Cricket. May 23, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  9. ^ "USA Cricket Board Meeting February 2020". USA Cricket. February 27, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  10. ^ "USA Cricket re-evaluating Major League Cricket debut timing due to Covid-19 concerns". SportBusiness. August 2, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  11. ^ "American Major League Cricket tournament launch pushed to 2023 at Annual General Meeting". Inside the Games. May 24, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  12. ^ Penna, Peter Della (May 21, 2021). "USA's MLC T20 tournament pushed back to 2023 at AGM". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  13. ^ Penna, Peter Della (July 30, 2021). "Minor League Cricket: T20 league in USA kicks off with Sami Aslam, Corey Anderson in the mix". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  14. ^ Penna, Peter Della (February 27, 2020). "New York, Boston, Chicago, LA among 22 targeted launch cities for USA T20 competition". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  15. ^ "About Us - Crickex". crickex1.in. May 30, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  16. ^ "Minor League Cricket Announces Player Registration Opening". USA Cricket. July 7, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  17. ^ "Inaugural Minor League Cricket Draft to Take Place Today". USA Cricket. August 22, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Minor League Cricket Draft results with 15 Squads Selected". USA Cricket. August 24, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  19. ^ Hays, Nate (November 7, 2020). "USA Cricket cancels 2020 National Championships for men, women and youth". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  20. ^ "USA Cricket Launches Foundational Plan". USA Cricket. October 15, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  21. ^ "American Cricket History to be Made on Minor League Cricket Opening Weekend". Major League Cricket. USA Cricket. July 29, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  22. ^ "Dramatic Finishes Highlight Historic Minor League Cricket Championship Opening Weekend". Major League Cricket. USA Cricket. August 5, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  23. ^ a b c "The Monday All Rounder - Week Five". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. August 30, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  24. ^ a b Madhavaram, Ravinder (September 23, 2021). "Minor League Cricket Week 8: Rovman Powell hits 38-ball 71". Cricbuzz. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  25. ^ a b "The Monday All Rounder - Week Two". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. August 9, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  26. ^ Patel, Smit (August 16, 2021). "Minor League Cricket Week 3 Wrap: Irving Mustang's Corey Anderson". Cricbuzz. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  27. ^ "The Monday All Rounder - Week Seven". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. September 13, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  28. ^ Patel, Smit (September 9, 2021). "Minor League Cricket Week 6 Wrap: Playoffs race intensifies with 2 weekends to go". Cricbuzz. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  29. ^ "Title and Presenting Partners Announced for 2022 Minor League Cricket Championship". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
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