DENTON/TEXAS – USA: New entrants into the US Open T20 tournament Dallas Smashers is coming to the 2020 event to create a storm.
Team owner John Robertson speaking to 925 News said he was thrilled to be onboard this tournament and is planning to bring a strong team to the tournament. “We are very excited about the prospects of bringing a team to the US Open T20 tournament and hence we are coming to make a mark. We are going to bring great players, a great coach and our major goal is to brand the cricket here in Texas and what better way than to have a winning team participate at the US Open T20.”
Robertson has taken ownership of the Dallas Smashers and plans to bring his network to the tournament. “Cricket is a popular game in many countries in the world and I don’t see why it cannot become that in the United States. Maq (Mahammad Qureshi) has done a great job in making it popular in South Florida and he has committed that he wants to work with us to brand the game in the entire country.
“We are grateful for this and I have bought into his vision so much so that I am now on the advisory board of Cricket Council USA (CCUSA). Maq has been gracious enough to allow us to come in and get a taste of the action down there and I am going to add my network to the set up so we can have more owners coming into the mix.”
The US Open T20 tournament is the fifth most popular T20 league in the world and number one in North America. This year will be the 12th edition of the tournament and so far several world-rated stars have taken part in previous tournaments. Prizes for this tournament range around US$100,000 and the tournament has been bankrolled by Qureshi for the past 11 years. To date, he has spent US$22M in the development of the sport, including hosting this tournament and plans to continue his investment as he moves forward.
The Dallas Smashers will be coming to town to be part of all of this but more importantly, they will be looking to carry home a wonderful experience that can probably spark a cricket virus in Texas.