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The Oakland Coliseum was supposed to be silent this summer.
But when MLB approved the A’s temporary relocation to Sacramento, MLC — Major League Cricket — stepped in.
Liam Plunkett, a 2019 World Cup champion with England, was among the San Francisco Unicorns players who took the field in Oakland this summer for the league’s first-ever games on the west coast.
“All of sudden, we’re playing in front of a good fan base of 11,000 people,” Plunkett said. “It feels like your home team and you’ve got the old, historic story of the Coliseum and it was fantastic. It was an amazing day.”
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The fledgling MLC, which has now completed two seasons, has attracted some of the sport’s most popular players, including Plunkett, who is determined to help cricket flourish in the United States.
It’s why he and other leaders in the cricket world are bringing the Cricket Impact Summit and Expo to Santa Clara next week, where the sport’s domestic growth will be a primary topic of discussion.
In this episode of Section 415, Plunkett joins the show to discuss how he’s working to grow the sport locally and nationally, what next week’s summit means for cricket’s future in the U.S., and how cricket’s return to the Olympic spotlight for the 2028 Games could change the way the sport is viewed.