Washington, DC [US], April 11 (ANI): The Washington Freedom confirmed that Australia’s star batter Steve Smith has been signed for Major League Cricket (MLC) ahead of the second season of the tournament, which begins on July 4.
Smith joined as a brand ambassador for Freedom last year, and Australia’s international calendar allows him to participate through July, making the move widely expected.
𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 x 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 = 😍
Welcome the the family, 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 ❤️#WashingtonFreedom #MLC2024 #SteveSmith pic.twitter.com/bGrzxlsr61
— Washington Freedom (@WSHFreedom) April 11, 2024
Smith’s local team in Australia, New South Wales (NSW), has a high-performance agreement with Freedom. However, coach Greg Shipperd was replaced by Ricky Ponting in February.
Moises Henriques, Tanveer Sangha, and Ben Dwarshuis of NSW, as well as Sixers’ Josh Philippe, were on the Freedom squad in 2023.
However, given his inability to play much T20 cricket in recent years, he will have to compete for a berth in Australia’s final 15-member team for the T20 World Cup, which will be contested in June. Since his impressive comeback to the BBL for the Sydney Sixers in the 2022-23 season, when he scored 346 runs at a strike rate of 174.74, Smith has played two T20Is in India, two BBL matches from last season, and as many games against New Zealand in February, when he scored 11 and 4 while opening the batting.
However, following the New Zealand series, he stated that he was unconcerned about the outcome of the T20 World Cup selection process, with Australia required to declare their original team by May 1. (ANI)
