Seattle Thunderbolts
Seattle-based cricket team in Minor League Cricket
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Seattle Thunderbolts are an American professional Twenty20 cricket team based in the Seattle metropolitan area that competes in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). It was formed in 2021 as part of 3 new teams to compete in Minor League Cricket.[1] The franchise is owned by Seattle Sports LLC, as part of its cricket development program, owned by Phani Chitneni, Vijay Beniwal, and Salman Taj.[2]
| ||
| League | Minor League Cricket | |
|---|---|---|
| Conference | Western Division (Pacific Conference) | |
| Personnel | ||
| Captain | Ian Dev Singh | |
| Coach | Paul Valthaty | |
| Owner | Vijay Beniwal Phani Chitneni Salman Taj | |
| Chief executive | Vijay Beniwal Phani Chitneni | |
| Team information | ||
| City | Seattle, Washington | |
| Colours | Pink, and Blue. | |
| Founded | 2021 | |
| Home ground | Klahanie Park, Klahanie, Washington Marymoor Park, Redmond, Washington | |
| History | ||
| MiLC wins | 1 (2022) | |
| ||
The team's home ground is Klahanie Park and Marymoor Park, both located in the Eastside region of King County, Washington.[3] They are coached by Paul Valthaty and captained by Ian Dev Singh.[4]
The current leading run-scorer is Andries Gous,[5] with the highest wicket-taker being Shadley van Schalkwyk.[6]
Franchise history
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.[7][8] 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.[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]
2021 season
Before the season's drafting, USA Cricket and American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) announced 3 new teams for the 2021 season including the Seattle Thunderbolts, the Manhattan Yorkers, and the St. Louis Americans.[16] Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31,[17] they announced Harmeet Singh as captain and Andries Gous as vice-captain.[2][18]
For their first four matches of the season, they lost by a margin of 7, 6, 2, and 7 wickets,[19][20][21] before going on a 6-match winning streak.[22][23] Their winning streak was ended due to a 46-run loss against the Michigan Cricket Stars.[24] They then lost back-to-back matches against the Golden State Grizzlies and the East Bay Blazers,[25] before winning by 7 wickets against the Silicon Valley Strikers in their last match of the season.[26]
They ended off the group stage with 7 wins and 7 losses, ending up in 4th place in their division, thus not qualifying for the finals.[27]
2022 season
Ahead of the 2022 season, Major League Cricket announced that the draft for that season would take place on May 12.[28]
Current squad
- Players with international caps are listed in bold.
| Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Year signed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batsmen | ||||||
| Andries Gous |  United States | 24 November 1993 | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | 2021 | |
| Shreyas Chitneni | United States | 9 September 1997 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | |
| Harmeet Singh | United States | 7 September 1992 | Right-handed | Left-arm orthodox spin | 2021 | |
| Ian Dev Singh |  India | 1 March 1989 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2024 | Overseas Captain |
| Manu Jacob | United States | 24 April 1984 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | |
| Nital Vasavada | United States | 15 July 2001 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | |
| All-rounders | ||||||
| Abir Chippa | United States | 13 February 1995 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | |
| Damodhar Bhat | United States | 17 December 1991 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | |
| Jagroop Raina | United States | 30 September 1998 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | |
| Rishab Mohan | United States | 10 June 2003 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | |
| Sahil Kancherla | United States | 25 April 2000 | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | 2021 | |
| Shadley van Schalkwyk | United States | 5 August 1988 | Left-handed | Left-arm fast | 2021 | Overseas |
| Ujjawal Patel | United States | 19 July 1992 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | 2021 | |
| Varun Potlapally | United States | 9 April 1997 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | |
| Phani Simhadri | United States | 13 May 2002 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 2021 | |
| Wicket-keepers | ||||||
| Mudi Prajith | India | 17 September 1989 | Right-handed | 2021 | Overseas | |
| Bowlers | ||||||
| Krish Katre | United States | 8 March 1997 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 2021 | |
| Manoj Panwar | United States | 5 June 1998 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | 2021 | |