Marshall joins legends for inaugural Masters Champions League
8 January 2016
Hamish Marshall will line-up alongside legends of the game including record-breaking West Indian Brian Lara in the first ever major T20 tournament for ex-international cricketers.
The two batsmen will join the likes of Herschelle Gibbs and Scott Styris at the Leo Lions - one of six franchises that make up the inaugural Masters Champions League.
Held in the United Arab Emirates, the two-week competition starts on January 28 and features players who must have represented their country and retired from all forms of international cricket to be eligible.
Ex-Gloucestershire and Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (Gemini Arabians), South African allrounder Jacques Kallis (Libra Legends) and Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist (Sagittarius Soldiers) were among six “icon” players made available at auction with Kallis (US$175,000) and Gilchrist US$170,000 going for the highest prices.
Former New Zealand international Marshall, 36, is among a number of participants who are still playing professionally including Kumar Sangakarra (Surrey), James Foster (Essex) and Lancashire seamer Kyle Jarvis.
The tournament features a number of former Bristol County Ground favourites including James Franklin (Leo Lions), Geraint Jones and Andrew Symonds (Capricorn Commanders), Jonty Rhodes and Malinga Bandara (Virgo Super Kings) and Ian Butler and Marcus North (Libra Legends).
Each MCL team was given two marquee players from a list of 12 that included eight former international captains: Abdul Razzaq and Michael Vaughan (Capricorn Commanders), Styris and Heath Streak (Leo Lions), Sourav Ganguly and Graeme Swann (Libra Legends), Virender Sehwag and Sangakkara (Gemini Arabians), Mahela Jayawardene and Daniel Vettori (Sagittarius Soldiers) and Graeme Smith and Azhar Mahmood (Virgo Super Kings).
Marshall’s team mates at Leo Lions also include Jarvis, ex South Africa pair Johan Botha and Robin Pietersen, former West Indies and current Hampshire paceman Fidel Edwards and England seamers Simon Jones and Darren Gough.
For more information on the MCL click here.
