Travis Head, David Miller, Pat Cummins Not Retained Ahead Of Major League Cricket Season 3 Draft

Major League Cricket (MLC) franchises have announced their retained players ahead of the third season's draft, set to take place on February 19. Several star players, including Australia's Travis Head and Pat Cummins, along with South Africa's Kagiso Rabada and David Miller, were not retained, ESPNCricinfo reported. Defending champions Washington Freedom retained 15 players, the most by any team, but let go of Head, their joint-highest run-getter alongside captain Steve Smith with 336 runs each. The franchise also let go of bowlers Akeal Hosein and Andrew Tye, who took two and five wickets each last season, as per ESPNCricinfo.

San Francisco Unicorns retained their key players, including explosive openers Finn Allen and Jake Fraser-McGurk, but released Cummins (four wickets), Matt Henry, and Josh Inglis (157 runs in nine matches). The Unicorns were runners-up in the 2024 season.

Seattle Orcas retained just seven players, including overseas stars Heinrich Klaasen and Ryan Rickelton. He was retained despite Klaasen's poor form last season (97 runs in six matches). However, the team released big names like Quinton de Kock (170 runs in seven games), Michael Bracewell, Obed McCoy, and Nandre Burger (four wickets last season).

LA Knight Riders retained three overseas stars--West Indies veterans Sunil Narine (five wickets) and Andre Russell (129 runs, two wickets in six matches), along with Australian pacer Spencer Johnson (nine wickets in six games). Meanwhile, Miller (81 runs in six games), Jason Roy (163 runs in six matches), Shakib Al Hasan (60 runs, one wicket in four games), and Adam Zampa were released.

MI New York, the inaugural champions, retained West Indies legend Kieron Pollard (63 runs, five wickets in five