Captain Mitchell Santner on Wednesday backed New Zealand Cricket’s decision not to own a team in Major League Cricket’s 2027 edition. Major League Cricket currently features six teams — Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Texas and Washington, D.C. — and intends to expand to 10 teams. NZC was in partnership with True North Sports Ventures to execute the plan of owning a team in MLC, but the agreement, which was announced in 2025, has now been terminated.
NZC on Wednesday announced that it will not proceed with its plans to have a team based in either Toronto or Atlanta in the American league.
“You can’t do everything and it’s going to be a solid investment in both,” Santner told reporters, referring to the national board’s plans to launch its own domestic T20 league featuring overseas players. And then it opens up doors to play franchise cricket,” Santner said. “The more guys can play around the world, as we’ve seen in international cricket, as a team when we have gone to different countries and done well, it’s because of the experiences we’ve had in those conditions,” Santner said.
“Again, you’re putting yourself on a big stage in front of a lot of people and that’s the goal.
