Good Saturday morning! I hope those of you in the U.S. are enjoying a long, peaceful holiday weekend. And hopefully your neighborhood is quieter than mine was last night. Enough with the fireworks already!! I’m going to be up early and on the road today, then this evening I have to fill in for someone at my other job. I’ll try to monitor the comments as best as I can, when I have time and good reception.
Now then, let’s welcome back Major League Cricket for its second season. Last year I did a uni review for the inaugural kits. It includes a brief explanation of what T-20 cricket is, and why this league genuinely deserves to be called “Major,” so if you’re unfamiliar with the sport, do give that a look. Last night, Season Two opened with a couple of games… one in Morrisville, North Carolina and the other in Grand Prairie, Texas. The first matchup featured the defending champion MI New York…
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…taking on the Seattle Orcas.
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MI NY (the MI stands for Mumbai Indians, the Indian Premier League franchise that runs this team) made some tweaks from last year’s uni, dropping the dark pants stripe in favor of a thin gold stripe that also crosses the backside, and changing the tinsel-y side panels to a diamond pattern. The one thing they DESPERATELY needed to drop was those shiny gold numbers that the parent club is so fond of wearing. Yeah, in the right light *and* at the right angle they look fine.
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But as you saw in the first photo, they can be illegible even in the same lighting. Such a shame, because with regular gold numbers, this could be a really good uni. I especially like the…I guess that’s an art deco sublimation on the jerseys.
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Seattle looks pretty much the same from last year’s kit.
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I will be saying that for some other teams as well, and when I do I realize some of them have different ads on the jerseys and/or pants. I don’t care about that. I’m trying my best to ignore the ads and enjoy the cricket. So glad the Orcas logo remains on the batting helmets. That’s my favorite logo from the whole league.
The second game featured the Texas Super Kings hosting the LA Knight Riders in a vibrant matchup.
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LA really toned down the gold sublimation this year as opposed to last season. The purple seems toned down as well. I would have kept that the same, but overall I like this version better. Also, I really REALLY like bowler Ali Khan’s jersey!
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It’s always nice to see when players are allowed to opt out of wearing the jersey ad. LA’s main advertiser is a betting site out of Bangladesh. I wouldn’t wear that either. You can get a better look at Ali Khan and both team’s unis in this video of him taking three of his four wickets…one of them thanks to a great barehanded catch by Derone Davis.
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If someone asks you what “Gamechanger” means, show them this video! https://t.co/ieeplSFAS4 pic.twitter.com/bAIwtZQ3rW
— Los Angeles Knight Riders (@LA_KnightRiders) July 6, 2024
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I’m usually not one for a lot of technology in sports, but I do love those light-up stumps. I also love how LA Gets It with their use of gold. Yes, the helmets and pads are a little shiny, but not in a reflective way.
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The numbers, as you saw in the video, are just right. Meanwhile, Texas seems the same as last year. I liked it then and I like it now.
That leaves two teams that haven’t played yet. The Washington Freedom looks the same in the lede photo as they did last season, while the San Francisco Unicorns appear to have dropped their contrasting blue sleeves in favor of a more orange jersey. I’m calling this a downgrade, but we’ll see how it looks once they actually take the field today. Here’s a closer look of all the new uniforms.
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The reason I said “Don’t blink” in the headline is because while most T-20 leagues play for roughly two months, Major League Cricket is played completely in the month of July. For now. Each of the six teams play seven regular season games, half of what is played in the IPL. It’s almost the same length as the Caribbean Premier League, which starts at the end of August and ends in the first week of October. So enjoy all the MLC action while you can!
I agree that less is more when it comes to tech in sports, but cricket in general, not just MLC, uses tech so well for making lbw decisions as well as microphones to see if there was an edge. More importantly, it doesn’t take a conclave of officials *cough* football *cough* to make a decision for an instant replay decision.
Are the Argos calling that an oar-paddle stripe on the pants? Doesn’t look like any oar or paddle I have ever seen. It looks like they were torn between a traditional pants stripe and a Nikefied truncated splash of color partway down the thigh, so they chose both.
They’re on the shoulders as well.
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Nice touch.
The pants were better looking for the Argonauts prior to the 2023 redesign. They are the Double Blue. All three sets of the current pants feature only one blue. The unis last worn in 2022 had the more conventional striping and the double blue look.
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The use of the oar in the uniforms was an interesting try. For many who may not know, the Toronto Argonauts are old. They started in the 1870s as a rowing club. Decided to create an offshoot rugby football club in the rowing off-season to keep their rowers in shape. They are paying homage to the previous sport this team participated in!
I tried several times to say something about the Syracuse post yesterday, and the blog seems to be eating my comments. So I’ll try and say it here instead.
I really enjoy the deep dives into a team’s uniform history. Obviously there are some uniquely interesting angles associated with that particular team, but honestly, you could pick any pro or college team at random and write up a detailed account of its uni history, and I’d be down for it. Great work as usual!
I finally freed up one of your attempts yesterday.
Since Phil and I won’t be in front of our computers for most of the day, it might take a while to free some comments. I’ll be checking from my phone occasionally, so thanks in advance for everyone’s patience.
Okay, now I. Am. Out. Of. Here.
I do enjoy the light up cricket stumps. Adds a celebratory feeling to hitting the stumps.
Last night was a first-time uniform combo for the Ottawa Redblacks. Wearing their new solid black pants with the white road jersey. The black pants had been introduced this year as home pants. The Redblacks have only worn white pants with this particular road jersey that was introduced a few seasons ago.
I’m not a fan of Ottawa’s overly busy jersey and stripeless pants but the Blue Bombers were in their full glory wearing the best uni in all of professional football.
I wish Saskatchewan would wear those Lancaster-Reed era unis on a full time basis. They are such a huge improvement over their regular set which I think are horrible.
This Winnipeg Blue Bombers uniform used to be better. Give me back the single blue stripe on the helmet!
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The Saskatchewan Roughriders retro alternate uniform is better than their primary. I have a dilemma. There are 2 old uniforms that would be amazing as the team’s primary if they made the decision to turn back the clock fulltime. This retro alternate but also the 1985-89 uniform. I loved that look.
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The only thing uglier than gigantic advertisements above the players’ numbers is a big empty *space*, waiting for an advertisement, above the players’ numbers, as we see on MI New York.
Cricket was such a prim and proper sport, uni-wise. I mean the white trousers, and collegiate sweaters and such. Now most teams look like high intensity beer league softballers to me. Like how many ads can we cram onto these cheap “moisture wicking” giveaway jerseys and ill-fitting track pants, and maybe bring some kind of a hat and supportive walking shoe.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of lesser “sports” out there dressing like slobs (I’m looking at you, professional corn howlin’), but cricketers just tend to look like groups of dads who are “trying to get back into going to the gym”.
Cricket is still that way. This is T20 cricket. It’s considered the same sport but personally, I look at T20 cricket and Test/First Class cricket the same way I look at rugby union vs rugby league. They’re different sports. Traditional cricket, called Test at the international level, played over 5 days, and First Class at the domestic level, played over 4 days, still has the same uniform traditions you are talking about. All white or off-white uniforms, polo shirts with trousers. They still have the jumpers. They do have ads now but it’s not as overwhelming as in T20 cricket. I absolute love the sweater vests (jumpers) myself, I have an England jumper it’s so nice. They also still wear the traditional caps too which I love. T20 cricket is a necessary evil that ends up funding “real” cricket so I tolerate it but don’t watch much if any. I work from home so I am lucky enough to be able to watch England test matches and the County Championship which is free to stream on YouTube (I support Surrey).
Fellow Surrey fan here!
Nice! Looks like we’re on track to repeat. Next 3 rounds will be so crucial though with several guys off on England duty.