MLC Franchises announce their retentions ahead of 2025 season with some big stars not retained by the 6 teams.
MLC Franchises have named the retained players ahead of the start of the 2025 season.
As Major League Cricket teams announced their retentions ahead of the draft for the upcoming season on February 19, notable names including Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, and David Miller were absent.
Defending champions Washington Freedom let go of Head, who was tied for the team’s top scorer with captain Steven Smith the previous season, but kept 15 players, the most of any squad. Freedom also released Andrew Tye and Akeal Hosein, two additional foreign players.
The 2024 runners-up San Francisco Unicorns also retained most of their core, including their aggressive opening duo of Jake Fraser-McGurk and Finn Allen, but cut ties with Josh Inglis, Matt Henry, and Cummins, among others.
The Seattle Orcas will undergo the most significant roster overhaul of the six teams because they have only kept seven players. Only two foreign players were kept by them: Ryan Rickelton, who has had a successful career in international cricket since the previous MLC season, and Heinrich Klaasen, a South African. Michael Bracewell, Nandre Burger, Obed McCoy, and Quinton de Kock were among the seven foreign players they released.
The LA Knight Riders, who only kept three foreign players—Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Australian left-arm quick Spencer Johnson—will also have a difficult time in the draft. Miller, Jason Roy, Shakib Al Hasan, and Adam Zampa were among those released.
Kieron Pollard, a veteran of MI, has joined MI New York, the winners of the first MLC title, along with Trent Boult, Nicholas Pooran, and Rashid Khan. But they let go of Tim David and Dewald Brevis, as well as the South African pace combination of Rabada and Anrich Nortje.
In the upcoming season, the Texas Super Kings anticipate having Faf du Plessis and Devon Conway back at the top of the order. Additionally, they have kept Afghan left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad and all-rounder Marcus Stoinis. Among the releases are Mitchell Santner, Matheesha Mathirana, Daryl Mitchell, and Naveen-ul-Haq.
The notable domestic players who have not been retained include MI New York’s Steven Taylor, Seattle Orcas’ Shehan Jayasuriya and Washington Freedom’s Jasdeep Singh.