Mitchell Santner backs New Zealand Cricket decision to drop MLC team plan
Santner said NZC cannot do everything and must focus investment on its domestic NZ20 league.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner backed his board's decision on Wednesday to end its partnership with True North Sports Ventures over a proposed team in Major League Cricket's 2027 edition. NZC announced it will not proceed with plans to base a franchise in either Toronto or Atlanta. The agreement with the American league, announced in 2025, has now been terminated.
Santner said the board cannot do everything and must focus its investment on the domestic NZ20 league scheduled for December 2027. He noted that the home competition would give domestic players a major stage and attract overseas investment. NZC had earlier postponed the launch of its men's and women's T20 competition from January 2027 to December 2027.
Santner added that Kiwi players benefit from overseas experience. He cited Tim Seifert and Finn Allen as examples of players who improved after playing franchise cricket around the world. MLC currently features six teams and plans to expand to 10.