Houston Hurricanes (cricket)

Houston HurricanesLeague| Minor League Cricket

|

Conference| Central Division (Pacific Conference)
Personnel
Captain| Willem Ludick
Owner| Tanveer Ahmed
Mangesh Chaudhari
Team information
City| Houston, Texas
Colours|  Red, and  Black.
Founded| 2020; 5 years ago (2020)
Home ground| Prairie View, Texas#Parks and recreation

The Houston Hurricanes are an United States professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that compete in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The team is based in Houston, Texas. It was formed in 2020 as part of 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket.[1] The franchise is owned by Tanweer Ahmed and Mangesh Chaudhari.[2]

The team's home ground is Prairie View, Texas#Parks and recreation, located in Prairie View, Texas.[3] Willem Ludick was named as captain, while Saqlain Haider was named as vice-captain for the team.[4]

The current leading run-scorer is Willem Ludick,[5] with the highest wicket-taker being Karthik Gattepalli.[6]

## Contents

* 1 Franchise history
* 1.1 Background
* 1.2 Exhibition league
* 1.3 2021 season
* 2 Current squad
* 3 Statistics
* 3.1 Most runs
* 3.2 Most wickets
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Franchise history[edit]

### Background[edit]

Talks of an United States|American Twenty20 league started in November 2018 just before USA Cricket became the new governing body of cricket in the Cricket in the United States|United States.[7][8] In May 2021, USA Cricket announced they had accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a US dollar|US$1 billion investment covering the league and other investments benefitting the U.S. national teams.[9]

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

USA Cricket CEO Iain Higgins 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.[15]

### Exhibition league[edit]

In July 2020, the player registration for the Minor League Cricket|Minor League Cricket exhibition league began.[16] On August 15, 2020, USA Cricket announced the teams participating in the exhibition league matches, also listing the owners for each team.[17] The draft for the exhibition league began on August 22, 2020,[18] with the Houston Hurricanes releasing their squad on August 24.[19] Shayan Jahangir was later named as captain for the Houston Hurricanes in the exhibition league.[20]

The exhibition matches kicked off on September 12,[21] with the Houston Hurricanes losing their first match to the Irving Mustangs by 75 runs.[22][23] The Houston Hurricanes then went on to concede 3 wins and 2 losses, placing 3rd throughout the Minor League Cricket|exhibition league in the Central Division.[24][25]

### 2021 season[edit]

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.[26] Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31,[27] they announced Willem Ludick as captain and Saqlain Haider as vice-captain.[4]

In their first match of the season, the Houston Hurricanes defeated the Austin Athletics chasing down a total of 175 in the 20th over, winning the match by 3 wickets.[28] They then went on to win their next 3 games by 4 wickets, 50 runs, and 76 runs respectively,[29][30][31] until they went on to concede their first loss of the season against the Michigan Cricket Stars.[32] Over the following weeks, the Houston Hurricanes won 8 more matches, and lost 2 more matches,[33] thus qualifying them for the quarter-finals.[34]

## Current squad[edit]

* Players with international caps are listed in bold.
* * denotes a player who is currently unavailable for selection.
* * denotes a player who is unavailable for rest of the season

Name  | Nat.  | Birth date  | Batting style  | Bowling style  | Signed year  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|
|

Batsmen
Ahsan Shah | style="text-align:center" | USA |  (1995-05-27) 27 May 1995 (age 30) | Right-handed | medium | 2021 |
Ali Samad | USA |  (1987-07-05) 5 July 1987 (age 38) | Right-handed | medium | 2021 |
Majjid Zubair | USA |  (2000-09-13) 13 September 2000 (age 25) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg-break | 2021 |
Naseer Jamali | USA |  (1989-09-10) 10 September 1989 (age 36) | Right-handed | medium | 2020 |
Rishi Ramesh | USA |  (1999-07-20) 20 July 1999 (age 26) | Right-handed | medium | 2021 |
Slade van Staden | SA |  (2003-04-30) 30 April 2003 (age 22) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg-break | 2021 | Overseas
Usman Rafiq | USA |  (1988-08-13) 13 August 1988 (age 37) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2020 |
Willem Ludick | SA |  (1997-03-20) 20 March 1997 (age 28) | Right-handed | medium | 2021 | captain
All-rounders
Ali Khan (American cricketer)|Ali Khan | USA |  (1998-12-13) 13 December 1998 (age 26) | Right-handed | medium | 2020 |
Ashley Nurse | BAR |  (1998-12-22) 22 December 1998 (age 26) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | Overseas
Derwish Ali | USA |  (1991-07-15) 15 July 1991 (age 34) | Right-handed | fast | 2021 |
Haris Qureshi | USA |  (1983-02-11) 11 February 1983 (age 42) | Right-handed | medium | 2021 |
Karthik Gattepalli | USA |  (2000-04-25) 25 April 2000 (age 25) | Left-handed | Left-arm orthodox spin | 2021 |
Shuja Naqvi | USA |  (1992-06-16) 16 June 1992 (age 33) | Right-handed | medium | 2020 |
Sudhir Hinge | USA |  (1992-07-19) 19 July 1992 (age 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | 2021 |
Sushant Modani | USA |  (1989-01-05) 5 January 1989 (age 36) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 |
Waleed Ahmed (cricketer)|Waleed Ahmed | PAK |  (1992-12-04) 4 December 1992 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2020 | Overseas
Wicket-keepers
Rana Ali | IND |  (1999-12-28) 28 December 1999 (age 25) | Right-handed | medium | 2020 | Overseas
Saqlain Haider | UAE |  (1987-08-10) 10 August 1987 (age 38) | Left-handed |  | 2020 | Overseas

## Statistics[edit]

### Most runs[edit]

Nat.  | Player  | Span  | Matches  | Innings  | Runs  | Average  | HS  | 100  | 50

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

SA  | Willem Ludick  | 2021-present  | 12  | 11  | 381  | 47.62  | 60  | 0  | 4
UAE  | Saqlain Haider  | 2020-present  | 15  | 14  | 280  | 40.00  | 63  | 0  | 1
SA  | Slade van Staden  | 2021-present  | 12  | 9  | 177  | 25.29  | 29  | 0  | 0
PAK  | Burhan Johar  | 2020  | 7  | 7  | 138  | 19.71  | 46  | 0  | 0
USA  | Sushant Modani  | 2021-present  | 7  | 7  | 134  | 22.33  | 56  | 0  | 1

Source: CricClubs, Last updated: 21 September 2021

### Most wickets[edit]

Nat.  | Player  | Span  | Matches  | Wickets  | Avg  | BBI  | Econ  | SR  | 4w  | 5w

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

USA  | Karthik Gattepalli  | 2021-present  | 15  | 24  | 14.79  | 4/12  | 5.92  | 15.0  | 2  | 0
USA  | Usman Rafiq  | 2020-present  | 15  | 16  | 20.31  | 3/16  | 6.77  | 18.0  | 0  | 0
USA  | Naseer Jamali  | 2020-present  | 12  | 15  | 19.40  | 2/16  | 7.10  | 16.4  | 0  | 0
BAR  | Chaim Holder  | 2020  | 7  | 9  | 20.67  | 2/12  | 6.89  | 18.0  | 0  | 0
BAR  | Ashley Nurse  | 2021-present  | 5  | 8  | 11.38  | 3/14  | 5.06  | 13.5  | 0  | 0

Source: CricClubs, Last updated: 21 September 2021

## References[edit]

1. ↑ "Minor League Cricket Announces Franchise Owners and Draft Owners". USA Cricket. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
2. ↑ Hays, Nate (18 August 2020). "Minor League Cricket announces teams and owners list, draft on August 22, exhibition games tentative". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
3. ↑ "Minor League Division Preview Series - Central". Major League Cricket. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Pre-Draft Selections Confirmed by 21 Minor League Cricket Teams as Draft Day Looms". USA Cricket. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
5. ↑ "Houston Hurricanes Batting - Minor League Cricket". CricClubs.com. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
6. ↑ "Houston Hurricanes Bowling - Minor League Cricket". CricClubs.com. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
7. ↑ Penna, Peter Della (8 January 2019). "USA formally approved to rejoin ICC as Associate Member under USA Cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
8. ↑ Penna, Peter Della (27 November 2018). "USA plan to launch their T20 League in 2021". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
9. ↑ "USA Cricket Chooses Partner to Fund and Develop U.S.-Based Professional T20 Cricket League". USA Cricket. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
10. ↑ "USA Cricket Board Meeting February 2020". USA Cricket. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
11. ↑ "USA Cricket re-evaluating Major League Cricket debut timing due to Covid-19 concerns". SportBusiness. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
12. ↑ "American Major League Cricket tournament launch pushed to 2023 at Annual General Meeting". Inside the Games. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
13. ↑ Penna, Peter Della (21 May 2021). "USA's MLC T20 tournament pushed back to 2023 at AGM". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
14. ↑ Penna, Peter Della (30 July 2021). "Minor League Cricket: T20 league in USA kicks off with Sami Aslam, Corey Anderson in the mix". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
15. ↑ Penna, Peter Della (27 February 2020). "New York, Boston, Chicago, LA among 22 targeted launch cities for USA T20 competition". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
16. ↑ "Minor League Cricket Announces Player Registration Opening". USA Cricket. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
17. ↑ "Minor League Cricket Announces Franchise Owners and Draft Update". USA Cricket. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
18. ↑ "Inaugural Minor League Cricket Draft to Take Place Today". USA Cricket. 22 August 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
19. ↑ "Minor League Cricket Draft results with 15 Squads Selected". USA Cricket. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
20. ↑ Hays, Nate (15 September 2020). "Jessy Singh and Shayan Jahangir bring CPL experiences to Minor League Cricket". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
21. ↑ "Minor League Cricket Partners with Sistar Mortgage, Franchise Exhibition Matches to Start September 12th". USA Cricket. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
22. ↑ Bhardwaj, Arjun (16 September 2020). "Week 1 Wrap-up: Minor League Cricket Franchise Exhibition Matches". USA Cricket. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
23. ↑ "Irving Mustangs vs. Houston Hurricanes - Full Scorecard". Funngage. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
24. ↑ Bhardwaj, Arjun (23 September 2020). "Week 2 Wrap-up: Minor League Cricket Franchise Exhibition Matches". USA Cricket. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
25. ↑ Bhardwaj, Arjun (1 October 2020). "Week 3 Wrap-up: Minor League Cricket Franchise Exhibition Matches". USA Cricket. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
26. ↑ "USA Cricket Launches Foundational Plan". USA Cricket. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
27. ↑ "American Cricket History to be Made on Minor League Cricket Opening Weekend". Major League Cricket. USA Cricket. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
28. ↑ "Austin Athletics v. Houston Hurricanes (Match 6) - Full Scorecard". CricClubs.com. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
29. ↑ "Houston Hurricanes v. Michigan Cricket Stars (Match 31) - Full Scorecard". CricClubs.com. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
30. ↑ "Houston Hurricanes v. Chicago Blasters (Match 40) - Full Scorecard". CricClubs.com. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
31. ↑ "Houston Hurricanes v. Chicago Catchers (Match 48) - Full Scorecard". CricClubs.com. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
32. ↑ "Michigan Cricket Stars v. Houston Hurricanes (Match 52) - Full Scorecard". CricClubs.com. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
33. ↑ Nielson, Tom (15 September 2021). "Pacific Conference Power Rankings". Major League Cricket. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
34. ↑ "The Monday All Rounder - Week Eight". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.

## External links[edit]

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