| Major League Cricket | 07/24 21:00 | - | San Francisco Unicorns v Texas Super Kings | 171/8(20)-172/7(19.1) | |
| Major League Cricket | 07/22 21:00 | - | Washington Freedom v San Francisco Unicorns | 133/8(20)-103/10(19.5) | |
| Major League Cricket | 07/19 00:30 | - | Los Angeles Knight Riders v San Francisco Unicorns | 191/5(20)-212/7(20) | |
| Major League Cricket | 07/16 00:30 | - | San Francisco Unicorns v Seattle Orcas | 142/10(17.5)-177/4(20) | |
| Major League Cricket | 07/14 20:30 | - | MI New York v San Francisco Unicorns | 193/5(20)-215/5(20) |
Wikipedia - San Francisco Unicorns
The San Francisco Unicorns is an American franchise cricket team, planned to be based in San Francisco, California, that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). In 2023, it was announced as one of the six teams to participate in the league's inaugural season. The team is owned by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, co-founders of Cambrian ventures.
Plans are underway to build a stadium at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. The stadium is expected to have a capacity of 15,000 people. During the first MLC season the team will play at Grand Prairie stadium in Texas. In March 2023, Cricket Victoria announced their partnership with the Unicorns for the opening season.
History
Background
Cricket has been growing steadily in San Jose, thanks to cricket clubs like the Northern California Cricket Alliance. Looking at these growing numbers, the county supervisors have been planning to build a stadium in the Santa Clara Fairgrounds. The Unicorns' minor league affiliate are the Bay Blazers, which competes in MLC's developmental league Minor League Cricket.
In March 2023, the team ownership, name, and logo was unveiled prior to the inaugural MLC domestic draft. The team is owned by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, and the team partnered with the Australia's Cricket Victoria for the first season. Justin Gaele, MLC tournament director emphasizing about the Unicorns, told that the Bay Area could serve as the launchpad for cricket in the United States.
2023 season
The Unicorns signed the first overseas player signed in the inaugural MLC — Australian international Aaron Finch. He was subsequently announced as the captain. Corey Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Tajinder Singh and Smit Patel were prominent names picked in the domestic round of the draft; Marcus Stoinis was also announced as another overseas signing by the Unicorns. In May 2023, the team announced direct signing of South African pacer, Lungi Ngidi. On 20 June 2023, Unicorns announced former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson as their head coach for the 2023 season.
The team finished fifth in the tournament, winning just two of their five league matches. They were tied on points with the MI New York, but could not advance to the play-offs due to their negative net run arte.
2024 season
In December 2023, it was announced that the second season of the tournament would begin on July 4, 2024, four days after the conclusion of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
On February 15, 2024, the retained overseas players' Harris Rauf and Finn Allen Retained. On March 1, 2024, the domestic player retention list was announced.Corey Anderson Liam Plunkett ,Carmi le Roux,Brody Couch,Sanjay Krishnamurthi.
The domestic players' draft was virtually held on March 21, 2024, with a total of 20 players being picked by the teams over 10 rounds. An additional draft is scheduled for June 16 in order for teams to complete their squads.
Hassan Khan, Tajinder Singh ,Karima Gore and Jahmar Hamilton were prominent names picked in the domestic round of the draft.
The following players were directly signed by teams ahead of the 2024 season. Matthew Short ,Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Henry and Josh Inglis was also announced as another overseas signing by the Unicorns.
In June 2024, the team announced direct signing of Australia Test and ODI skipper Pat Cummins. Cummins is expected to fill in the leadership vacuum at the Unicorns after Aaron Finch's retirement.He was subsequently announced as the captain.