Aussie cricket stars Aaron Finch, Mitch Marsh Marcus Stoinis to play in new American T20 competition

Former Aussie T20 skipper Aaron Finch and current stars Mitch Marsh and Marcus Stoinis will be part of the first Major League Cricket T20 competition in the US, which gets underway in July.

Finch was revealed as the inaugural captain of the San Francisco Unicorns franchise, where he’ll be joined by Stoinis, while Marsh, fresh off destroying India in an ODI game, was announced as a signing for the Seattle Orcas.

The inaugural player draft was held in Houston on Monday morning, but the Aussies were announced as stand-alone overseas signings for their respective outfits in the latest T20 tournament to join the worldwide circus.

Finch, who retired from international cricket in February after scoring more than 9000 runs in more than 250 games for Australia, was among the biggest signings for the new competition.

He said he was ‘so excited to be part of this ‘ in a social media post.

Finch was revealed as the inaugural captain of the San Francisco Unicorns franchise, where he’ll be joined by Stoinis, while Marsh (pictured), fresh off destroying India in an ODI game , was announced as a signing for the Seattle Orcas

The inaugural player draft was held in Houston on Monday morning, but the Aussies were announced as stand-alone overseas signings for their respective outfits in the latest T20 tournament to join the worldwide circus (Stoinis pictured)

 South African Quinton de Kock was signed by the Seattle Orcas and his countryman, fast bowler Anrich Nortje, who was his team’s most impressive player in last summer’s Test series against Australia, was also signed by the DC Freedom.

But the draft itself was dominated by players from their already established domestic competition.

Harmeet Singh, a 30-year-old spinning all-rounder who was part of the 2012 India U19 World Cup winning side, was taken as the No.1 draft pick by the Orcas.

Both Cricket Victoria and Cricket NSW have recently announced partnerships with the MLC to help them develop their franchises. Cricket Victoria is aligned with the Unicorns, with representatives on hand at the draft to help them put together their squad.

Victorian fast bowler Brody Crouch will also join the Unicorns.

The 2023 MLC season will feature 19 matches over 18 days, starting July 13. The six teams in the competition will be the Unicorns along with teams form Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Washington D.C.