Connolly signs for Unicorns in MLC ahead of push for World Cup spot

Cooper Connolly has signed for San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket (MLC) for his first experience of an overseas T20 league.

Connolly, the 21-year-old left-handed batter and left-arm spinner, has debuted for Australia across all formats since last September, playing his first Test against Sri Lanka in February.

MLC overlaps with Australia's Test tour of West Indies, but Connolly is unlikely to be in the frame for those matches. The five T20Is, which Connolly could feature in as Australia build towards next year's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, follow after the conclusion of MLC.

It was in T20 that Connolly first shot to prominence when he carried Perth Scorchers to the 2022-23 BBL title in just his fourth match and second innings. He made his T20I debut against Scotland last year although has only played one further game with a thumb injury ruling him out of the home Pakistan series in November.

He returned to have an impressive 2024-25 BBL where he scored 351 runs at 50.14 with a strike-rate of 131.46. He was named joint player of the tournament alongside Glenn Maxwell.

Unicorns are coached by former Australia allrounder Shane Watson who has been impressed by the early stages of Connolly's career.

"Cooper's all-round ability is going to be a key asset for the Unicorns this summer," Watson said. "Although he's young, he's shown maturity and adaptability beyond his age; not many players have international experience across both white-ball formats and earned a baggy green at 21."

Connolly could come into contention for next year's T20 World Cup with Australia likely to give strong consideration to including a left-arm spinner among their options.

He was a surprising choice to open the batting in the Champions Trophy semi-final against India last month having been called into the squad as a replacement for Matt Short. He struggled with the bat making 0 from nine balls but held his own with the ball, claiming the wicket of Rohit Sharma and could have had Virat Kohli but for a dropped catch by Glenn Maxwell.

A number of Australians will again feature in the MLC, including Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk alongside Connolly at Unicorns, although the Test series in West Indies will impact the availability of anyone involved in those matches.

Last season, Steven Smith captain Washington Freedom to the title against a Unicorns side which featured Pat Cummins.