Australia batter Travis Head has been signed up by Washington Freedom for the second edition of Major League Cricket (MLC) commencing soon after the T20 World Cup. He will join Steve Smith who was signed by the same team a week ago. While Smith is still not certain for the T20 World Cup and isn't playing in the Indian Premier League either, Head's decision to not rest is surprising.
He has been on the road since the New Zealand tour and after the IPL, will soon be travelling to the Caribbean and the USA to play for Australia in the T20 World Cup. Fatigue had taken over the left-handed batter at the end of Australia's home summer as he required rest during the series against West Indies in white-ball cricket. Since then, he has traveled to New Zealand, and is currently playing in the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He will be on the road for more than four months by the time the World Cup ends in June.
But Australia do not have international commitments until September when they are scheduled to tour England for white-ball matches which might have prompted Head to take up the offer from Washington Freedom. Moreover, fotrmer Australia captain Ricky Ponting has also been signed up as the head coach of the team as he replaced Greg Shipperd at the helm.
New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra will also play for the franchise this season while Marco Jansen and Akeal Hosein are two other foreign players retained from 2023 edition. Meanwhile, apart from Head and Smith, four more Australian players have signed up to feature in MLC 2024. Adam Zampa (Los Angeles Knight Riders), Spencer Johnson (Knight Riders) and Tim David (MI New York) are the confirmed signings from Australia and more players from the country are expected to be added to the list soon.
