San Ramon Grizzlies

Background

Talks of an American Twenty20 league started in November 2018 just before USA Cricket became the new governing body of cricket in the United States.^[6][7] In May 2021, USA Cricket announced they had accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a US$1 billion investment covering the league and other investments benefitting the U.S. national teams.^[8]

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,^[9] but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[10] and due to the lack of high-quality cricket stadiums in the USA.^[11] Major League Cricket was pushed to a summer-2023 launch^[12] and Minor League Cricket was pushed back to July 31, 2021.^[13]

USA Cricket CEO Iain Higgins also 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.^[14]

2020

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

2021-2024

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.^[19] Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31,^[20] the Grizzlies announced Sami Aslam as captain with Hammad Azam helming vice-captain duties.^[4]

Throughout the group stage, the Grizzlies lost to the Strikers twice, and won twice against the Blazers, the Blasters, the Lashings, the Surf Riders, and the Thunderbolts.^[21] The Grizzlies additionally won against the Chicago Blasters and the Americans once.^[22][a] The Grizzlies topped the group, thus qualifying for the play-offs.^[23] In the quarterfinals, the Grizzlies bested the Houston Hurricanes in a best-of-three-game series 2–0.^[24] The Grizzlies headed to the semi-finals to face eventual winners, the Silicon Valley Strikers.^[25] The Grizzlies lost by 33 runs against the Strikers as they placed 3rd in the tournament.^[26]

2025

In May, the Grizzlies were taken over by Samir Shah, who was then appointed the team's CEO.^[27] The team also hired former Karnataka batter J. Arunkumar as head coach,^[28] before striking a deal with the San Ramon Cricket Association (SRCA) and the city of San Ramon to move their operations into the region.^[29][30]