Photo Credit: USA Cricket
- Toyota Minor League Cricket Championship finals weekend to be held at scenic Church St Park near Raleigh, NC
- Final four teams to compete for largest ever prize money in American cricket history on Oct. 2-3
- Historic weekend for American cricket to be broadcast live on Willow TV
Minor League Cricket (MiLC) announced today that the inaugural Toyota Minor League Cricket Championship finals will be held at Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina. The semi-finals will be held as a doubleheader on Saturday Oct. 2, and the championship match on Sunday Oct. 3. The winning team will take home $125,000 out of a total $250,000 total purse, the largest in American cricket history.
In another first for a domestic championship, high definition live television and streaming coverage for the finals weekend will be available on Willow TV, with a seven camera production and top-tier international broadcast team in place for all three games. Willow TV is available in over five million households and is the leading broadcaster of cricket in the United States.
Finals weekend at Church Street Park, located only 15 miles from downtown Raleigh, is free to attend for all games. Fans will have the opportunity to meet and greet with international star cricketers, enjoy local food trucks, music and a family activity zone.
Church Street Park, a multi-million dollar cricket facility opened in 2015, is the home of Minor League Cricket’s Morrisville Cardinals and the Triangle Cricket League.
“The community around Church Street Park and in the broader Raleigh region has embraced cricket with incredible passion, which makes this venue an ideal location for this historic Finals Weekend,” said Justin Geale, Tournament Director, Minor League Cricket. “This outstanding cricket facility provides a picture perfect setting for a wonderful weekend of action to determine a national T20 champion for the first time.”
The route to qualification for the Finals Weekend will come via the Conference Semi-Finals, to be held the prior weekend, Sept. 25-26. The top two teams from each of Minor League Cricket’s four divisions following the end of regular season play will take part in best-of-three matchups, with the four winning teams advancing to Finals Weekend on Oct. 2-3.
“The Minor League Cricket season has exceeded expectations in every capacity to date, with the regular season so far providing an unprecedented scale and level of competition in our domestic cricket pathway. One of the most pleasing aspects has been the scale of opportunity given to American players to develop their skills,” remarked Iain Higgins, CEO, USA Cricket. “The competitiveness of Minor League Cricket and its place at the top of the short-form domestic structure means that the performances to date and over the remainder of the tournament will be one of the most important factors that selectors will take into account to determine who will represent the US National Team at the upcoming ICC T20 Cricket World Cup Regional Qualifier.”
Finals Weekend will conclude the historic inaugural season of the Toyota Minor League Cricket Championship, the most extensive competition to ever take place in American cricket. The tournament represents a new era for the sport in the United States, with 27 participating teams competing in over 218 matches taking place in 21 cities nationwide.
The full schedule and list of all competing 27 teams and their divisional breakdown is available at www.minorleague.cricket.
Name of Author: USA Cricket
USA Cricket (USAC) is the governing body for cricket in the United States, overseeing the national men’s, women’s, and youth teams. It also manages Major League Cricket, the premier domestic Twenty20 competition in the U.S.
