Ponting wants to lure top Aussie talent to US T20 comp

By: Jasper Bruce and Oliver Caffrey Time published 2024-02-07 at 06:00 AM (GMT +11:00)

Ricky Ponting, the biggest signing in Major League Cricket, has his sights set on luring Australian stars to his new job with the Washington Freedom.

RICKY PONTING talks to the media during the Cricket Hall of Fame Media Opportunity at the National Sports Museum in Melbourne, Australia.
RICKY PONTING talks to the media during the Cricket Hall of Fame Media Opportunity at the National Sports Museum in Melbourne, Australia. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Ricky Ponting has high hopes of bringing Australia's top talent to the United States capital after becoming the biggest signing in the short history of Major League Cricket.

The superstar former Australian captain has signed a two-year deal to coach Washington Freedom for the second season of the US-based Twenty20 competition.

The MLC begins only days after the end of the T20 World Cup, which is being held across the USA and Caribbean in June.

Adam Zampa, Moises Henriques and Aaron Finch were among the Australians who played in the first season, where four of six sides received significant financial backing from the wealthy Indian Premier League franchises.

Australian star Steve Smith looms as a genuine chance to play in the MLC this year given his love of the US.

David Warner, who Ponting coaches in the Indian Premier League with the Delhi Capitals, is now a T20 gun-for-hire after retiring from Tests and ODIs.

"With the relationships I've had with some of these guys, hopefully those relationships and the right amount of money is enough to bring them to the Freedom," Ponting said in Melbourne on Wednesday after being confirmed as Freedom coach.

"There's huge potential, huge growth possibilities in the US, even with the IPL ownership model the way it is at the moment, it's got potential to become huge and I want to be a part of that journey along the way."

"I think we'll see this competition in the next couple of years be attracting all the best players in the world, certainly that's one of the main goals of the MLC - to become one of the leading domestic tournaments in the world."

Ponting previously coached the IPL's Mumbai Indians and has worked in the Australian set-up with the white-ball squads, most recently as an assistant during Justin Langer's tenure.

He takes the reins at a Washington side that finished third on the ladder in the inaugural MLC last year but who were eliminated by eventual champions MI New York in the play-offs.

Greg Shipperd stepped down as Washington coach after one season to focus on his duties in charge of the Sydney Sixers and his role at Cricket NSW - the Freedom's high-performance partner.