Baltimore Royals

Baltimore Royals
LeagueMinor League Cricket
ConferenceEastern Division (Atlantic Conference)
Personnel
CaptainSunny Sohal
OwnerRajit Passey
Team information
CityBaltimore, Maryland
Colours  Orange, and   Dark Orange.
Founded2020; 5 years ago (2020)
Home groundVeterans Memorial Park

T20 kit

The Baltimore Royals (formerly the DC Hawks) are an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that compete in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The team is based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was formed in 2020 as part of 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket.[1][2] The franchise is currently owned by Rajit Passey.[1]

The team's home ground is Veterans Memorial Park, located in Woodbridge, Virginia.[3] American international Sunny Sohal currently helms as captain, with former IPL cricketer Bipul Sharma standing by as vice-captain.[4][5]

Ravi Inder Singh tops the batting leaderboard for the team with 564 runs,[6] while Sarabjit Ladda tops the bowling team with 29 wickets.[7]

Franchise history

Background

The logo for the then-DC Hawks

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.[8][9] 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.[10]

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,[11] but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic[12] and due to the lack of high-quality cricket stadiums in the USA.[13] Major League Cricket was pushed to a summer-2023 launch[14] and Minor League Cricket was pushed back to July 31, 2021.[15]

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.[16]

Exhibition league

In July 2020, the player registration for the Minor League Cricket exhibition league began.[17] On August 15, 2020, USA Cricket announced the teams participating in the exhibition league matches, also listing the owners for each team.[18] The draft for the exhibition league began on August 22, 2020,[19] with the DC Hawks releasing their squad on September 2.[20] Navin Stewart was later named as captain for the DC Hawks in the exhibition league.[20]

2021 season

See also: 2021 Minor League Cricket season § Atlantic 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.[21] Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31,[22] they announced Sunny Sohal as captain and Adil Bhatti as vice-captain.[4]

In their first match of the season, they beat the Florida Beamers by 65 runs, but lost to the New England Eagles by 33 runs the same day.[23] They then went on to win against the Philadelphians,[24] the Eagles twice,[25][26] the Titans,[27] the Stallions,[25] the Yorkers,[28] and the Cavaliers.[29] They additionally lost against the Philadelphians,[29] the Titans,[27] the Stallions,[25] the Yorkers,[30] the Cavaliers,[24] the Fire,[31] and the Param Veers.[26]

The Hawks placed 4th in their group, thus missing the quarter-finals.[30]

2022 season

See also: 2022 Minor League Cricket season § Atlantic Conference

Ahead of the 2022 season, Major League Cricket announced that the draft for that season would take place on May 12.[32] Ahead of the official season, it was announced that American international Sunny Sohal would continue to captain the side, with former IPL cricketer Bipul Sharma taking over the role of vice-captain following Adil Bhatti's departure to the Empire State Titans.[33]

Throughout the season, the Hawks lost twice against the Stallions, the Titans, and the Yorkers,[34] lost once against the runners-up Atlanta Fire,[35] won once and lost once against the Eagles and the Philadelphians,[36] won once against the Lions, and won twice against the Cavaliers.[37] Overall, the Hawks ended with a 5-9 win-loss record, securing them fifth in their division and unable to go to the play-offs.

2023 season

Before the start of the 2023 season, it was announced that the DC Hawks would undergo a name-change to the Baltimore Royals.[2]

Current squad

  • Players with international caps are listed in bold.
Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Year signed Notes
Batsmen
Abdullah Ghazi  United Arab Emirates (1988-05-18) 18 May 1988 (age 36) Right-handed Right-arm medium fast 2021 Overseas
Franklin Clement  United States (1993-04-21) 21 April 1993 (age 31) Right-handed Right-arm medium 2021
Ritwik Behera  United States (2003-11-10) 10 November 2003 (age 21) Right-handed Right-arm off break 2021
Shehan Perera  Sri Lanka (1987-02-11) 11 February 1987 (age 37) Right-handed Right-arm off break 2021 Overseas
Sunny Sohal  United States (1987-11-10) 10 November 1987 (age 37) Right-handed Right-arm leg break 2021 Captain
Talal Zia  Pakistan (1986-03-25) 25 March 1986 (age 38) Right-handed Right-arm medium 2021 Overseas
All-rounders
Shukri Rahim  Malaysia (1986-10-06) 6 October 1986 (age 38) Right-handed Right-arm off break 2021 Overseas
Adil Bhatti  United States (1984-10-28) 28 October 1984 (age 40) Right-handed Right-arm medium 2021 Vice-captain
Dane Piedt  South Africa (1990-03-06) 6 March 1990 (age 34) Right-handed Right-arm off break 2021 Overseas
Ishan Sharma  United States (2003-05-17) 17 May 2003 (age 21) Right-handed Right-arm fast medium 2021
Naseer Islam  United States (1972-09-23) 23 September 1972 (age 52) Right-handed Right-arm medium fast 2021
Rasesh Behera  United States (2001-08-30) 30 August 2001 (age 23) Right-handed Right-arm medium 2021
Ravi Inder Singh  India (1987-12-04) 4 December 1987 (age 37) Left-handed Right-arm off break 2021 Overseas
Raviteja Reddy  United States (1993-02-11) 11 February 1993 (age 31) Right-handed Right-arm leg break 2021
Sahil Kapoor  United States (1986-08-11) 11 August 1986 (age 38) Right-handed Right-arm medium fast 2021
Waleed Karimullah  United States (1993-06-08) 8 June 1993 (age 31) Right-handed Right-arm medium 2021
Bowlers
Sarabjit Ladda  India (1974-10-25) 25 October 1974 (age 50) Right-handed Right-arm medium fast 2021 Overseas
Wicket-keepers
Christopher van Tull  United States (1986-10-05) 5 October 1986 (age 38) Right-handed Right-arm fast 2021

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Minor League Cricket Announces Franchise Owners and Draft Update". USA Cricket. August 15, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Minor League Cricket [@MiLCricket] (February 28, 2023). "New season, new name! The DC Hawks are now the Baltimore Royals. The name might be new, but the attitude is still the same. Join us in welcoming the Royals for the upcoming 2023 MiLC Season!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Minor League Division Preview Series - Eastern". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. July 27, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Punjab cricketers move to US with eye on national team". Hindustan Times. July 7, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  5. ^ Ehrenhaft, Ethan (October 4, 2022). "Cricket's popularity takes off in Howard County as adult and youth leagues gain hundreds of players and youth pitch opens". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
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  7. ^ "DC Hawks - Bowling". CricClubs.com. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
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