Sixty Strikes is a cricket competition that is organized by the National Cricket League of the USA. The event is played in the T10 format where each side bats for ten overs. USA cricket and International Cricket Council have officially sanctioned this tournament.
The tournament is played between franchise teams representing different cities of USA. As of 2024, the participating teams are Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Texas, New York, and Dallas. Each team plays the other in a round-robin format. After every team has played the other, the table toppers progress to the knockout stages. A team gets two points for a win, zero for a loss, and one point for a drawn or abandoned match.
Each day of the tournament is based on a theme with the aim of raising awareness against a social or cultural facet. Based on that theme, a certain amount is donated to the cause at the end of the day’s play. The event usually lasts for ten days. A match lasts no longer than 90 minutes.
A team comprises of retired international cricketers. Moreover, each team will have a veteran retired cricketer as a coach. The cricketers can be of different nationalities and make the team based on a draft system. The first tournament was won by the franchise team representing Chicago. The team won it after playing 19 matches in the tournament. The knockout stages featured two qualifiers and an eliminator.
The National Cricket League’s Sixty Strikes promises to be a stepping stone in USA’s efforts to grow the sport of cricket in the continent.
