Major League Cricket (MLC) has recently received approval from the city of Grand Prairie to begin an extensive redevelopment of AirHogs Stadium to be the organization’s first major stadium in the US. The redevelopment of the venue is scheduled to take place throughout 2021 before playing host to the Texas MLC franchise that is planned to launch in 2022, as well as a base for the USA Cricket national team.

“As the first Major League Cricket stadium in the United States, Grand Prairie represents a seminal moment for the sport in America, and we are incredibly excited to partner with the City of Grand Prairie to bring Major League Cricket to Dallas,” Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan, co-founders of American Cricket Enterprise and MLC said in a media release. “Grand Prairie’s centralized location in the U.S. and the thriving Texas cricketing community, allied with the quality of the facility, made it the perfect site for us and we are certain that this is the beginning of a fruitful long-term partnership with the City that will bring much success.”

According to sophomore Aarya Thakkar, the development of the stadium could help propel the growth of the sport. 

“Those opportunities could be like better opportunities in the sport to progress forward and reach a higher level than possibly before and actually be able to play well because you have the resources to play on the right grounds,” Thakkar said. I think it might impact me because if I do progress high enough, it’ll provide the feeling of an international match and turf wicket instead of a concrete one. It’ll also show that America is taking steps forward and is wanting to progress in this sport which will attract less fortunate people from other countries to try here as an opportunity to get to a higher level.”

The venue will also be a foundation of USA Cricket’s efforts to bring major international events to the United States, including regional International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup and T20 World Cup Qualifiers for Men and Women, Cricket World Cup League 2 series, and International Series against local rivals Canada and the West Indies. 

“In association with our partners at ACE, we now have a world-class facility to develop our domestic talent and help us fulfill the goals we announced in our Foundational Plan,” Paraag Marathe, USA Cricket Chairman said in a media release. “The successful development of a cricket-dedicated stadium has long been a priority for us, and it is a significant stride forward for the growth of cricket in America. We also look forward to bringing international cricket events, and the crowds that go with them, to our new stadium, and to help introduce the sport to a broader audience.”