The San Francisco Unicorns are an American professional Twenty20 cricket team based in the San Francisco Bay Area that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). The team's home ground is the Oakland Coliseum.
In 2023, it was announced as one of the six teams to participate in the league's inaugural season. The team is owned by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, co-founders of Cambrian ventures. In March 2023, Cricket Victoria announced their partnership with the Unicorns for the opening season.
History
Cricket has been growing steadily in San Jose, thanks to cricket clubs like the Northern California Cricket Alliance. Looking at these growing numbers, the county supervisors have been planning to build a stadium in the Santa Clara Fairgrounds. The Unicorns' minor league affiliate are the Bay Blazers, which competes in MLC's developmental league Minor League Cricket.
In March 2023, the team ownership, name, and logo was unveiled prior to the inaugural MLC domestic draft. The team is owned by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, and the team partnered with the Australia's Cricket Victoria for the first season. Justin Gaele, MLC tournament director emphasizing about the Unicorns, told that the Bay Area could serve as the launchpad for cricket in the United States.
2023 season The Unicorns signed the first overseas player signed in the inaugural MLC — Australian international Aaron Finch. He was subsequently announced as the captain. Corey Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Tajinder Singh and Smit Patel were prominent names picked in the domestic round of the draft; Marcus Stoinis was also announced as another overseas signing by the Unicorns. In May 2023, the team announced direct signing of South African pacer, Lungi Ngidi. On June 20, 2023, Unicorns announced former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson as their head coach for the 2023 season.
The team finished fifth in the tournament, winning just two of their five league matches. They were tied on points with the MI New York, but could not advance to the play-offs due to their negative net run rate.
2024 season In December 2023, it was announced that the second season of the tournament would begin on July 4, 2024, four days after the conclusion of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The date was later moved to July 5.
On February 15, 2024, the overseas players Harris Rauf and Finn Allen were retained. On March 1, 2024, the domestic player retention list was announced. Corey Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Carmi le Roux, Brody Couch, and Sanjay Krishnamurthi were among the domestic players that were retained.
The domestic players' draft was virtually held on March 21, 2024, with a total of 20 players being picked by the teams over 10 rounds. An additional draft is scheduled for June 16 in order for teams to complete their squads.
Hassan Khan, Tajinder Singh, Karima Gore, and Jahmar Hamilton were prominent names picked in the domestic round of the draft.
Matthew Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Henry, and Josh Inglis were also announced as direct overseas signing by the Unicorns for their second season.
In June 2024, the team announced direct signing of Australia Test and ODI skipper Pat Cummins. After signing a four-year contract with the team, Cummins is expected to fill in the leadership vacuum at the Unicorns after Aaron Finch's retirement. He was subsequently announced as the captain.
Pat Cummins has signed a four-year contract with San Francisco Unicorns, becoming one of the highest-profile players on the roster of a Major League Cricket (MLC) franchise.
2025 season 2026 Season
Ahead of the 2026 season, the Unicorns retained captain Matthew Short, Finn Allen, Haris Rauf, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, Hassan Khan and other key players, while adding Aakarshit Gomel, Zia-ul-Haq, Muhammad Ilyas, Saideep Ganesh and Anirudh Imanuel through the Major League Cricket draft.
The Unicorns also signed Aaron Hardie, Oliver Peake and Lhuan-dre Pretorius ahead of the tournament. After Cooper Connolly was ruled out through injury, Connor Esterhuizen joined the squad as his replacement.
The Unicorns began their campaign with a victory over Los Angeles Knight Riders, followed by wins against Texas Super Kings, MI New York and Washington Freedom to extend their unbeaten start. They later defeated Seattle Orcas and continued their impressive run at the top of the standings before suffering their first defeat of the season against Los Angeles Knight Riders. They quickly bounced back with victories over MI New York and Seattle Orcas, the latter confirming a top-of-the-table finish at the end of the league stage.
Having finished first in the league stage, the Unicorns advanced directly to the Qualifier, where they were defeated by Los Angeles Knight Riders, forcing them into the Challenger. There, despite an unbeaten century from Matthew Short, they suffered a narrow seven-run defeat to Washington Freedom, ending their campaign one win short of reaching the final.
Current squad Players with international caps are listed in bold. +San Francisco Unicorns 2026NameDate of BirthBatting StyleBowling StyleYear signedNotesBatters Matthew Short (c) Right-handed Right-arm off break 2024 Direct signing Finn Allen Right-handed Right-arm off break 2023 Direct signing Oliver Peake Right-handed 2026 Direct signingAll-rounders Aaron Hardie Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2026 Direct signing Ravichandran Ashwin Right-handed Right-arm off break 2026 Direct signing Hassan Khan Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox 2023 Sanjay Krishnamurthi Right-handed Right-arm off break 2023 Hammad Azam Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2023 Aakarshit Gomel Left-handed Right-arm off break 2026 Draft Anirudh Immanuel 2026 DraftWicket-keepers Lhuan-dré Pretorius Left-handed 2026 Direct signing Saideep Ganesh Right-handed 2026 DraftBowlers Haris Rauf Right-handed Right-arm fast 2023 Direct signing Xavier Bartlett Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2024 Direct signing Brody Couch Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2023 Juanoy Drysdale Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2023 Zia-ul-Haq Left-handed Left-arm fast-medium 2026 Draft Mohammad Ilyas Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2026 Draft
Administration and support staff +San Francisco Unicorns staffPositionNameHead coachCameron WhiteAssistant coachAshwell PrinceAssistant coachChamu ChibhabhaTeam managerDavid MannStrength and conditioningSaeed AjmalPhysiotherapistJacob Oram
Seasons Seasons YearLeague standingFinal standing20235th out of 6League stage 20242nd out of 6Runners up20253 out of 6SF20261st out of 6SF C: champions RU: runner-up SF team qualified for the semi-final stage of the competition
Season summary YearPlayedWinsLossesTies/NR202352302024106312025202612660Source: ESPNCricinfo
Note:
NR indicates No result. Abandoned matches are indicated as no result.
Notes
References
External links Official website