2025 Washington Freedom season

Washington Freedom
2025 season
CoachRicky Ponting
CaptainGlenn Maxwell
Overseas player
MLCRunners-up
Most runsMitchell Owen (313 runs)
Most wicketsJack Edwards (14)
Mitchell Owen (14)
← 2024 2026 →

The 2025 Washington Freedom season was the third season of the franchise in Major League Cricket (MLC).[1] The team, which was without last year's captain Steven Smith due to injury,[2] was captained by fellow Australian teammate Glenn Maxwell and coached by Ricky Ponting.[3]

As defending champions,[4] the Freedom began their season with a crushing 123-run loss to San Francisco – courtesy of Finn Allen's mammoth 151.[5] They quickly recovered, going 4-0 with a 5-wicket win over Seattle,[6] a heavy 113-run Maxwell-powered victory over Los Angeles,[7] a thrilling last-over 2-wicket game against New York,[8] and a high-scoring 7-wicket chase against Texas.[9] The Freedom closed off their Dallas leg of the tournament strong by again defeating Los Angeles via a last-ball single and delivering San Francisco a 12-run defeat, their first of the season.[10] Ensured of a playoff berth, Washington headed into Lauderhill with a 6-1 record, tied with San Francisco on points but lower on net run rate.[11]

At Lauderhill, in a rain-affected game, the Freedom began poorly with a hefty 43-run defeat to Texas.[12][13] However, in a play for a top-two finish, the Freedom steamrolled Seattle by 8 wickets and eased past New York by 6 wickets.[14][15] After shooting up to a first-place group stage finish heading into the playoffs,[16] the Freedom advanced on higher seeding to play New York in the final following a Qualifier 1 washout.[17] They were ultimately downed by 5 runs in a last-over thriller, providing New York with their second MLC championship.[18]

Background

On January 10, 2025, ahead of the domestic platers' draft, MLC announced that the tournament's third season would begin play on June 13 in Oakland, and end with the final on July 13. In February, the Freedom released a list of retained overseas players', containing the likes of Maxwell, Smith, and Rachin Ravindra. They further retained domestic bulwarks Andries Gous, Saurabh Netravalkar, and Ian Holland, amongst others.

Prior to the season opener, the team signed a slew of overseas players–the likes of Mitchell Owen, Mark Chapman, and Glenn Phillips.

Current squad

  • Players with international caps are listed in bold.
Washington Freedom roster
Name Nat. Date of Birth Batting Style Bowling Style Year signed Notes
Batters
Steve Smith  Australia (1989-06-02) June 2, 1989 Right-handed Right-arm leg spin 2024 Direct signing
Travis Head  Australia (1993-12-29) December 29, 1993 Left-handed Right-arm-off spin 2024 Direct signing
Jack Edwards  Australia (2000-04-19) April 19, 2000 Right-handed — 2024 Direct signing
Mukhtar Ahmed  Pakistan (1992-12-20) December 20, 1992 Right-handed Right-arm leg break googly 2023
All-rounders
Mitchell Owen  Australia (2001-09-11) 11 September 2001 Right-handed Right-arm medium 2025
Glenn Maxwell  Australia (1988-10-14) October 14, 1988 Right-handed Right-arm off break 2024 Direct signing
Rachin Ravindra  New Zealand (1999-11-18) November 18, 1999 Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox 2024 Direct signing
Glenn Phillips  New Zealand (1996-12-06) December 6, 1996 Right-handed Right-arm off break 2025 Direct signing
Obus Pienaar  United States (1989-12-12) December 12, 1989 Right-handed Left-arm off spin 2023
Justin Dill  United States (1994-11-10) November 10, 1994 Right-handed Right-arm medium fast 2023
Ian Holland  United States (1990-10-03) October 3, 1990 Right-handed Right-arm medium 2024
Wicket-keeper
Andries Gous  United States (1993-11-24) November 24, 1993 Right-handed 2023
Lahiru Milantha  Sri Lanka (1994-05-28) May 28, 1994 Left-handed 2024
Bowlers
Saurabh Netravalkar  United States (1991-10-16) October 16, 1991 Right-handed Left-arm medium fast 2023
Jason Behrendorff  Australia 20 April 1990 Right-handed Left-arm fast 2025 Direct signing
Lockie Ferguson  New Zealand (1991-06-13) June 13, 1991 Right-handed Right-arm fast 2024 Direct signing
Akhilesh Bodugum  United States (2000-04-28) April 28, 2000 Right-handed Right-arm off spin 2023 U23 player
Amila Aponso  United States (1993-06-23) June 23, 1993 Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox 2024
Yasir Mohammad  United States (2002-10-10) October 10, 2002 Left-handed Legbreak Googly 2024

League stage

Timing of matches in California are in Pacific Time Zone (PDT) (UTC-07:00), while matches in Texas and Florida are in Central Time Zone (CDT) (UTC-05:00) and Eastern Time Zone (EDT) (UTC-04:00).
Match 1
June 12, 2025
18:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
San Francisco Unicorns
269/5 (20 overs)
v
Washington Freedom
146 (13.1 overs)
Finn Allen 151 (51)
Jack Edwards 2/39 (4 overs)
Rachin Ravindra 42 (17)
Haris Rauf 3/30 (3.1 overs)
San Francisco Unicorns won by 123 runs
Oakland Coliseum, Oakland
Attendance: 5,126[19]
Umpires: Leslie Reifer (WI) and Rushane Samuels (WI)
Player of the match: Finn Allen (San Francisco Unicorns)
Match 4
June 14, 2025
18:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Seattle Orcas
145/9 (20 overs)
v
Washington Freedom
149/5 (13.3 overs)
David Warner 31 (17)
Ian Holland 4/19 (4 overs)
Rachin Ravindra 44 (18)
Waqar Salamkheil 2/27 (3.3 overs)
Washington Freedom won by 5 wickets
Oakland Coliseum, Oakland
Attendance: 7,361
Umpires: Jermaine Lindo (USA) and Vijaya Mallela (USA)
Player of the match: Ian Holland (Washington Freedom)
  • Seattle Orcas won the toss and elected to bat.
Match 8
June 17, 2025
18:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Washington Freedom
208/5 (20 overs)
v
Glenn Maxwell 106* (49)
Corné Dry 2/33 (3 overs)
Saif Badar 32 (31)
Jack Edwards 3/15 (3 overs)
Washington Freedom won by 113 runs
Oakland Coliseum, Oakland
Attendane: 1,985
Umpires: Wayne Knights (NZ) and Vijaya Mallela (USA)
Player of the match: Glenn Maxwell (Washington Freedom)
  • Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to bat.
Match 11
June 21, 2025
19:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
MI New York
188/4 (20 overs)
v
Washington Freedom
189/8 (19.2 overs)
Quinton de Kock 55 (34)
Ian Holland 1/6 (1 over)
Mitchell Owen 60 (26)
Naveen-ul-Haq 2/28 (4 overs)
Washington Freedom won by 2 wickets
Grand Prairie Stadium, Grand Prairie
Umpires: Rushane Samuels (WI) and Wayne Knights (NZ)
Player of the match: Mitchell Owen (Washington Freedom)
  • Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
Match 13
June 22, 2025
19:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Texas Super Kings
220/6 (20 overs)
v
Washington Freedom
223/3 (19.4 overs)
Faf du Plessis 69 (31)
Mitchell Owen 3/33 (3 overs)
Mitchell Owen 89 (52)
Adam Milne 3/42 (4 overs)
Washington Freedom won by 7 wickets
Grand Prairie Stadium, Grand Prairie
Umpires: Wayne Knights (NZ) and Vijaya Mallela (USA)
Player of the match: Mitchell Owen (Washington Freedom)
  • Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
  • Andries Gous (Washington Freedom) played his 100th T20 match.
Match 17
June 26, 2025
19:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
v
Washington Freedom
214/5 (20 overs)
Andre Fletcher 104 (60)
Ian Holland 2/25 (3 overs)
Mitchell Owen 43 (16)
Tanveer Sangha 2/35 (4 overs)
Washington Freedom won by 5 wickets
Grand Prairie Stadium, Grand Prairie
Umpires: Wayne Knights (NZ) and Vijaya Mallela (USA)
Player of the match: Mitchell Owen (Washington Freedom)
  • Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
  • Andre Fletcher and Sherfane Rutherford (Los Angeles Knight Riders) both scored their 8,000th and 3,000th run respectively in T20s.
Match 19
June 28, 2025
15:00
Scorecard
Washington Freedom
169/6 (20 overs)
v
San Francisco Unicorns
157/9 (20 overs)
Glenn Phillips 58 (39)
Xavier Bartlett 4/32 (4 overs)
Matthew Short 67 (40)
Mitchell Owen 5/17 (3 overs)
Washington Freedom won by 12 runs
Grand Prairie Stadium, Grand Prairie
Umpires: Wayne Knights (NZ) and Rushane Samuels (WI)
Player of the match: Mitchell Owen (Washington Freedom)
Match 23
July 2, 2025
19:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Texas Super Kings
87/2 (5 overs)
v
Washington Freedom
44/4 (5 overs)
Shubham Ranjane 39* (14)
Saurabh Netravalkar 1/30 (2 overs)
Glenn Phillips 18* (11)
Nandre Burger 2/12 (1 over)
Texas Super Kings won by 43 runs
Broward County Stadium, Lauderhill
Umpires: Wayne Knights (NZ) and Rushane Samuels (WI)
Player of the match: Donovan Ferreira (Texas Super Kings)
  • Washington Freedom won the toss and elected to field.
  • The match was reduced to 5 overs per side due to rain.
Match 26
July 4, 2025
19:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Seattle Orcas
82 (17.4 overs)
v
Washington Freedom
86/2 (9.2 overs)
Heinrich Klaasen 48 (39)
Glenn Maxwell 3/12 (4 overs)
Mukhtar Ahmed 36* (21)
Jessy Singh 1/11 (1 over)
Washington Freedom won by 8 wickets
Broward County Stadium, Lauderhill
Umpires: Jermaine Lindo (USA) and Vijaya Mallela (USA)
Player of the match: Glenn Maxwell (Washington Freedom)
  • Washington Freedom won toss and elected to field.
Match 29
July 6, 2025
15:00
Scorecard
MI New York
112/8 (18 overs)
v
Washington Freedom
113/4 (15 overs)
Kunwarjeet Singh 33 (30)
Glenn Maxwell 3/29 (4 overs)
Andries Gous 46* (34)
Tristan Luus 2/39 (4 overs)
Washington Freedom won by 6 wickets
Broward County Stadium, Lauderhill
Umpires: Wayne Knights (NZ) and Billy Taylor (USA)
Player of the match: Glenn Maxwell (Washington Freedom)
  • MI New York won the toss and elected to bat.
  • The match was reduced to 18 overs per side due to rain.

Standing

Points table

Pos Team Pld W L T NR Pts NRR Qualification
1 Washington Freedom 10 8 2 0 0 16 0.954 Advanced to Qualifier
2 Texas Super Kings 10 7 3 0 0 14 1.603
3 San Francisco Unicorns 10 7 3 0 0 14 1.330 Advanced to Eliminator
4 MI New York (C) 10 3 7 0 0 6 −0.518
5 Seattle Orcas 10 3 7 0 0 6 −1.842 Eliminated
6 Los Angeles Knight Riders 10 2 8 0 0 4 −1.320
Source: ESPNCricinfo
(C) Champions

Match summary

Team Group matches Playoffs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Q/E C F
Washington Freedom 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 12 14 16 W L
Win Loss Tie No Result

Win–loss table

Team League stage Play-offs Pos.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Q E C F
Washington
Freedom		 San Francisco
123 runs		 Seattle
8 wickets		 Los Angeles
113 runs		 New York
2 wickets		 Texas
8 wickets		 Los Angeles
5 wickets		 San Francisco
12 runs		 Texas
43 runs		 Seattle
8 wickets		 New York
6 wickets		 Texas
Higher seeding		 New York
5 runs		 2nd

Administration and support staff

Washington Freedom staff
Position Name
Head coach Australia Ricky Ponting
General Manager Australia Michael Klinger
Bowling coach South Africa Dale Steyn
Assistant coach England Samit Patel
Team manager England Andrew Lynch
Strength and conditioning Pakistan Umar Gul
High performance analyst Afghanistan Zamir Khan
Physiotherapist Afghanistan Noor Ali Zadran

References

  1. ^ Roller, Matt (January 23, 2025). "Hundred and MLC avoid fixtures clash for 2025". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  2. ^ McGlashan, Andrew (June 14, 2025). "Smith avoids surgery, faces race to be fit for West Indies Tests". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  3. ^ Omoro, Ian (June 12, 2025). "MLC 2025: Maxwell Replaces Smith as Washington Freedom Captain". Athlon Sports. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  4. ^ McGlashan, Andrew (July 29, 2024). "Smith, Maxwell star in Washington Freedom's emphatic title win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  5. ^ Abbas, Haider (June 13, 2025). "Finn Allen Lights Up the MLC 2025 with a Record-Breaking Century in the Opening Match". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  6. ^ Patel, Smit (June 14, 2025). "Holland 4-fer downs Orcas". Cricbuzz. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  7. ^ "Maxwell's century for Freedom consigns LAKR to heavy defeat". ESPNcricinfo. June 18, 2025. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  8. ^ "Freedom beat MI for third successive win in MLC". BBC. June 22, 2025. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  9. ^ Shah, Faisal (June 23, 2025). "Record-Breaking Chase: Washington Freedom Stun Texas Super Kings in MLC 2025 Thriller". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  10. ^ Das, Aishik (June 27, 2025). "Final ball blunder costs Andre Russell's LA Knight Riders in MLC thriller vs Washington Freedom". The Sporting News. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  11. ^ Patel, Smit (June 28, 2025). "Mitchell Owen fifer powers Washington Freedom to playoffs". Cricbuzz. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  12. ^ Burnett, Ian (July 4, 2025). "Ranjane and Ferreira's firestorm propels Texas Super Kings to 2nd in MLC sprint". Caribbean National Weekly. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  13. ^ Mahbub, Rashad (July 4, 2025). "Ranjane, Ferreira hit quick 30s to lift Texas Super Kings to No. 2". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  14. ^ "MLC 2025: Washington Freedom bolster top two chances by snapping Seattle Orcas' three-match winning run". The Times of India. July 5, 2025. Archived from the original on July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  15. ^ Patel, Smit (July 5, 2025). "Maxwell spins Washington Freedom to top-two finish". Cricbuzz. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  16. ^ Patel, Smit (July 8, 2025). "Surging Washington Freedom set sights on another final". Cricbuzz. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  17. ^ "Freedom qualify for MLC final after washout". BBC Sport. July 9, 2025. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
  18. ^ Abbas, Haider (July 14, 2025). "MI New York Secures a Remarkable Victory Against Washington Freedom in the Final of MLC 2024". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  19. ^ Dahlstrom-Eckman, Azul (June 13, 2025). "Oakland Coliseum, In Its Second Life, Hosts Major League Cricket's West Coast Debut". KQED. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
  20. ^ "MLC 2025: Finn Allen smashes fastest century in league history against Washington Freedom". Times of India. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
  21. ^ "19 sixes, 150 in 49 balls! New Zealand's Finn Allen breaks Chris Gayle's sixes world record in MLC 2025 opener". The Indian Express. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
  22. ^ "Finn Allen Creates History With 51-Ball 151 In MLC, Becomes First In World To..." News 18. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
  23. ^ "Owen five-for sends Unicorns to their first defeat of MLC 2025". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
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