Washington Freedom name Steve Smith as new captain for MLC 2024 season

Major League Cricket (MLC) franchise Washington Freedom have named Steve Smith as their new captain for the 2024 season. Smith, who has led Australia to 21 Test wins, 30 ODI victories and four T20I wins, will lead an MLC team for the first time in his career.

MLC started last year in the USA, and Washington Freedom made it to the playoffs, where they lost to eventual champions MI New York. This year, the Washington-based franchise have bolstered their squad by signing some big names, including Steve Smith.

Many fans expected Washington Freedom to name Smith as their skipper, and the franchise made the announcement earlier today (Wednesday, July 3) with the following post on X.

"𝘖𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 is all set to lead the Freedom squad for #MLC2024."

The post from Washington Freedom's X profile has received close to 400 likes in just a few hours. Many fans lauded the franchise for appointing an experienced leader like Smith as the captain of the team for MLC 2024.

Can Steve Smith lead Washington Freedom to their maiden championship in MLC 2024?

As mentioned ahead, Steve Smith has achieved enormous success as the captain of Australia. Apart from Australia, Smith has also captained Pune Warriors, Rising Pune Supergiant, and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, where he had a win-loss record of 25-17. In 2017, Smith led RPS to the finals.

It is pertinent to note that Smith's former Australian teammate Moises Henriques captained the Washington Freedom last year. Washington finished third in the points table, registering three wins from five matches.

Although Washington made it to the playoffs, only one batter from the team - Matt Short crossed the 150-run mark in the tournament. The team owners will expect Smith to lead the team from the front by scoring heaps of runs.