{"id":790325,"date":"2026-07-10T00:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T00:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/790325\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T00:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T00:56:09","slug":"the-unicorns-bring-world-class-cricket-to-oakland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/790325\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unicorns bring world class cricket to Oakland"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the World Cup dominating headlines, American attention is on f\u00fatbol, the world\u2019s most popular sport. U.S. soccer fandom has come a long way, building slowly since the country hosted the pivotal 1994 World Cup<\/a>. But what about the world\u2019s second most popular sport? When will it be time for the U.S. \u2014 or at least Oakland \u2014 to get into cricket?<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Unicorns<\/a>, a Major League Cricket team who play at the Oakland Coliseum, are hoping the answer is now, and that locals will join their \u201cSparkle Army\u201d of fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the unfamiliar, Major League Cricket<\/a>, the United States\u2019 first professional cricket association, wasn\u2019t founded until 2023, although the game has been played stateside since before the American Revolution<\/a>. Despite its newness, the league draws some of the best players from around the world. The league is able to do this by timing its match schedule to occur during a month-long gap between the seasons of other well-established leagues like the Indian Premier League, Australia\u2019s Big Bash League, South Africa\u2019s SA20 and the Pakistan Super League. The Unicorns were one of the original six teams; this is their second season playing in Oakland.<\/p>\n

\"\"Indian cricket superstar Ravichandran Ashwin of the San Francisco Unicorns completes against Texas Super Kings at Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas, June 20, 2026. Ashwin retired from the Indian Premier League in 2025 and signed with the Unicorns this season. Credit: Kelly Gavin\/San Francisco Unicorns<\/p>\n

More than three centuries older than its cousin, American baseball, English cricket is also a bat-and-ball sport. Rather than sprint around bases in a diamond, batters run back and forth between two wickets \u2014 sets of connected wooden posts \u2014 placed 22 yards apart. The type of cricket played in the Unicorn\u2019s league is \u201cTwenty20\u201d or T20 for short, which refers to the number of \u201covers\u201d \u2014 basically at-bats of six pitches each \u2014 that each team gets.<\/p>\n

Balls that sail over the boundaries aren\u2019t called home runs; they\u2019re called sixes or \u201csixers\u201d because of the points they are worth. There are typically about 10 to 15 sixers at every game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unlike test cricket matches that can last up to five days, or one-day international tournaments, a T20 match is more accessible to new fans, lasting only around three hours, or roughly as long as a playoff baseball game. \u201cPeople have this conception that cricket is slow,\u201d Unicorns and US National Team cricketer Sanjay Krishnamurthi told The Oaklandside. \u201cT20 cricket is fast paced. It goes by quickly.\u201d He said baseball fans who come to the Coliseum might be surprised by the faster pace of play.<\/p>\n

\"\"Unicorns team captain and Australian national team member Matt Short signs an autograph for a fan, June 21, 2026. Credit: Kelly Gavin\/San Francisco Unicorns<\/p>\n

Unicorns president David White described cricket to us as \u201ca higher impact version of baseball.\u201d White pointed out that batters can launch balls 360 degrees around the cricket oval. Or, in the words of Unicorns team captain and Australian national team member Matt Short, \u201cThere\u2019s balls going everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krishnamurthi, White and Short are not the only ones attempting to lure American baseball fans to cricket. There are global stars of the game who come to play in a country where cricket is a sports afterthought to help promote it. \u201cWe are here to grow the game,\u201d cricketer Colin Munro of the Los Angeles Knight Riders, and New Zealand\u2019s national team, told us after a June 28 match in Oakland. \u201cIt would be great for a baseballer to move over\u201d to playing cricket, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A cricketer throws a pitch<\/p>\n

\"\"Liam Plunkett, a retired Unicorn and 2019 Cricket World Cup champion for England, signed a one-day contract to pitch for the Oakland Ballers, June 26, 2026. Credit: Courtesy of the Oakland Ballers<\/p>\n

The reverse has happened here in Oakland.<\/p>\n

On June 26, Liam Plunkett, a retired Unicorn and 2019 Cricket World Cup champion for England, signed a one-day contract to pitch for the Oakland Ballers.<\/a> Ballers spokesperson Casey Pratt said the team had the idea to sign a cricketer to play in one of their games. \u201cWe hit up Liam and he was instantly down,\u201d Pratt said. Plunkett threw five pitches against the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds, including a strikeout. It went so well, Plunkett is coming back again on July 12<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m buzzing for it,\u201d Plunkett said about returning to Raimondi. \u201cIt\u2019s a cool little ballpark.\u201d<\/p>\n

In cricket, Plunkett was known for his fast seam and off cutter bowling, pitches that have the same grip as a fastball and curveball, respectively. But because his release point is different than a typical baseball pitcher, more overhand than sidearm, he heard from the Freebirds batters that his pitches were hard for them to track. This Sunday, Plunkett says he will not just be pitching. He is excited to have his first professional baseball at-bat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Ballers game takes place just days before the Major League Cricket playoffs kick off at the Coliseum. The top four teams in the league will face off in matches next Wednesday and Thursday, July 15 and 16, to determine who will fight for the championship on July 18. This is the first time that the league\u2019s playoffs will be held in Oakland. Plunkett says he\u2019s pulling for the Unicorns, who were first place in the standings leading into this week\u2019s matches at Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium near Dallas, home of the Texas Super Kings \u2014 but it is all about who has a high run rate on the day.<\/p>\n

Oakland hosting the championship is one step toward the state of California briefly becoming the center of the cricket world in 2028, when cricket will be played at the Olympic Games<\/a> for the first time since 1900 with Los Angeles as host. The cricket ground<\/a> where Olympic matches will be staged just opened last week in Pomona, outside of Los Angeles. Those grounds are now home to Major League Cricket team the Knight Riders, co-owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The International Cricket Council estimates that there are 2.5 billion cricket fans across the globe, 30 million of whom are in the United States<\/a>. While the sport is English in origin, and popular in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies, an estimated 90% of cricket\u2019s global fanbase comes from the Indian subcontinent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A \u2018Bay Area boy\u2019 who trained in India<\/p>\n

\"\"The Unicorns\u2019 Sanjay Krishnamurthi at bat against the Texas Super Kings, June 20, 2026. Krishnamurthi also plays for the U.S. national team. Credit: Kelly Gavin\/San Francisco Unicorns<\/p>\n

Within the U.S., it is the South Asian diaspora that is driving cricket viewership. Unicorns star Krishnamurthi moved to the Bay Area six years ago with his family and went on to attend college at San Jose State. He is, in his own words, \u201ca Bay Area boy\u201d who watched baseball at the Coliseum long before playing cricket on the field there. But he said his cricket development took place when he joined an academy in India after his family moved there when he was 8 years old. \u201cCricket is mainly a South Asian sport at the moment,\u201d he said. \u201cTapping into those fans will grow the sport\u201d here.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s one player who will definitely draw in those fans: Indian cricket superstar Ravichandran Ashwin<\/a>. In a career move reminiscent of David Beckham\u2019s signing with the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer toward the end of his career, Ashwin retired from the Indian Premier League in 2025 and signed with the Unicorns this season. While Beckham was known for his thrilling curved shots and passes, Ashwin is similarly known for spin bowling, where he exhibits an uncanny ability to make the ball move in unexpected directions. Even Ashwin\u2019s own teammates sound a bit starstruck. \u201cHe\u2019s been a legend of the game,\u201d Krishnamurthi said, \u201cso to get to play with him and learn from him is really special.\u201d Short said the young players all hang around Ashwin, just trying \u201cto suck the knowledge out of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although they would like to lift the trophy at the end, Short said, \u201cwinning and losing isn\u2019t everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Unicorns\u2019 goal for the season, he said, is to \u201cput on a show,\u201d fill up the stands at the Coliseum, and grow the U.S. game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Major League Cricket playoffs begin July 15, with a 2:30 p.m qualifier match, followed by a 6:30 p.m. eliminator match. The semifinal match is July 16, 6:30 p.m., and the championship match is July 18, 4:30 p.m., all at the Oakland Coliseum, 7000 S. Coliseum Way, Oakland. Tickets start at $26.25<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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