San Francisco Unicorns star Corey Anderson details growing cricket in US

Programming note: The San Francisco Unicorns-Washington Freedom match airs Monday at 5:30 p.m. PT on NBC Sports Bay Area Plus.

Cricket is one of the most popular global sports, but in the US, it is just starting to gain national attention.

The recently completed T20 World Cup featured matches in Texas, New York and Florida, and Major League Cricket -- with the San Francisco Unicorns as one of its inaugural six teams -- is about to wrap up its second season.

All-rounder Corey Anderson is at the center of both events.

The 33-year-old New Zealand native moved to the US in 2020 and joined Team USA to help spearhead the growth of cricket in the country.

Anderson, the Unicorns' captain, helped Team USA stun Pakistan in World Cup group play in one of the biggest upsets in all of sports in recent memory.

Now Anderson and the Unicorns (four wins, one loss, one no-result) are vying to win the Major League Cricket championship. They finish their regular-season schedule against the Washington Freedom on Monday night.

The Unicorns and Freedom will meet again Thursday in the MLC Qualifier. The winner advances to the Final.

MI New York and the Texas Super Kings meet in the Eliminator match. The loser is done, but the winner advances to the Challenger, where they will take on the loser of the Unicorns-Freedom Qualifier.

The winner of the challenger heads to the Final, which takes place Sunday in Grand Prairie, Texas -- the venue for a majority of MLC's matches. Others are being played in Morrisville, North Carolina.

So there is a real chance the Unicorns and Freedom could play three consecutive times in a six-day span.

Ahead of the Unicorns' match on Monday, Anderson spoke with NBC Sports Bay Area about his journey to the US, growing the sport in the country, his experience in the World Cup, the Unicorns signing Australian National Team captain Pat Cummins and cricket returning to the Olympics in 2028.

[Editor's note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity]

NBC Sports Bay Area: “You're a native New Zealander. You spent about eight years representing that country, but you retired from that team back in 2020. And you moved here. And you now represent the U.S. Give new fans of cricket a brief overview of your professional career and what went into your decision to leave New Zealand and come to the U.S.”

Corey Anderson: “I played for New Zealand, as you said, for give-or-take about eight years and a few injuries through then, so it was probably a little bit off and on. But yeah, played in multiple World Cups with New Zealand and it was the dream when I was a kid to play for the Black Caps and then in COVID 2020. I came across to the States and my wife is from Dallas, so that was the big reason for moving across. And saw an opportunity with the major league and thought, ‘Everyone's always been wanting America to grow with cricket and it's always been something that everyone's been really intrigued with.’ And I thought, ‘What better than getting in there on the ground level and trying to help this thing grow?’

“I've been here for a period of time now and I mean, it's been great. To play for the US in the World Cup was unbelievable and extremely exciting. I didn't think my career would quite take that path or that journey. But it's exciting.”

NBCSBA: “When did the possibility of playing for Major League Cricket first pop up for you and what about that appealed to you?”

Anderson: “I think having a new competition – there’s so many of them jumping up. But like I said before, I think America being a pretty untapped market in terms of cricket. It just had so much interest to it. And I've always loved the States and I love American sports, and I think there was just something about it that kind of attracted me to it and I think it was an opportunity that was too hard to pass up on.

“Just the growth and being able to kind of try and get your fingerprints on a new sport in America and help it grow, I think was the most exciting part. So that said, a lot of hoops to jump through and a lot of hurdles to get over. But yeah, it's getting there.”

NBCSBA: “What has your experience been like so far in the first two years of actual gameplay for Major League cricket?

Anderson: “It's been fantastic. We're really lucky here that the grounds that we do have are at a really high quality and the overseas players that we have bought across, as well as some of the best in the world, some of the best that are going around the T20 circuit. In terms of a fan of the game, being able to watch that and get eyes on, again, the biggest players in the world. Pretty cool to have that at your own back doorstep.

“It's taken a heap attraction and there's been so many eyes on it. It's very early in the journey for it, but yeah, being the second season now, it's gone up and up and up and you know, hopefully, it continues on that trend.”

NBCSBA: “Do you expect in future seasons, the seasons, to get longer as you guys gain more traction?”

Anderson: “Yeah, I would imagine so. I don't think to a to a huge degree. I think scheduling around other competitions is still something that's a continual work on for every competition. But yeah, I could see this progressing out to playing a home and away game, you know, 10 games in a season, then the playoffs. But again, that's probably the infrastructure part is the big issue.

“That's an ongoing thing. That's probably the biggest piece to the puzzle that needs to get sorted. And that stuff takes time to get through city planning and trying to find land for that. Unfortunately, cricket's not the makeshift baseball stadium or football stadium. So we can’t kind of just move it to one place and pack it up in the next.

“So you've got to basically grow these things from the ground up or renovate existing stadiums. They can have the room to do it. There's a lot more moving pieces to try and grow that. But it has started in a lot of other places in the home. Places like San Francisco as well have started those conversations and trying to start those contracts and the construction of those stadiums.”

NBCSBA: “I believe I've heard that Santa Clara County is trying to get a stadium or they're trying to build a stadium in Santa Clara County just south of San Francisco. Have you been to San Francisco? Have you been to the Bay Area? What do you know about the Bay Area?”

Anderson: “I don't know the Bay Area really well, but I've been there a few times now. We normally have a little bit of a preseason when we go in and I think we've been great in terms of trying to have fan activation and try to grow the brand itself as well. And I think we're probably one of the only times that's actually doing that and getting out to say our hands [are] dirty into the environment and try and actually get our fan base and grow it so when we do have a stadium that we can play it in the home ground, we've got a fan base that will happily turn up and make sure that we can fill out a stadium. I think we've done a great job toward that. And I know that the marketing group on the staff at the uniforms have done a tremendous job.”

NBCSBA: "You have played in the [Indian Premier League] and you've played in the Big Bash [in Australia]. Those are established leagues around the world. How far is Major League Cricket from reaching that level and what needs to be done to get there?”

Anderson: “The IPL is probably the pinnacle of all sports in terms cricket for the franchises, but Major League [Cricket has] got the potential to compete with it.

“I think if you look at the broadcasting landscape in America, it's one of the biggest sports broadcasting countries in the world. And again, it's just been so untapped and underdeveloped, particularly with cricket here in this country. If we can grow it on that level and attract, I guess, more Americans to watch the game and get involved with it, that's more of a long-term play.

“But it has such a big upside to it. And I think that's why people have been so excited about it, is it's just got so much room to grow. And considering cricket's second biggest pool in the world and I know it's very much dominated by the South Asian culture, but there's no reason why Americans can't love it and get around it and make it their own as well, right?”

NBCSBA: “Is the key to success for cricket and Major League Cricket in the US appealing to people that already follow cricket in this country? Or is it appealing to new fans who don't know much about cricket and getting them to understand and buy into the sport?”

Anderson: “I think it's a combination. That it's trying to find a happy medium, I guess pleasing the masses of the ones who already are the diehard cricket lovers. And so we're going to turn up to the games and I think obviously we always appreciate the support, but I think trying to grow this into America is trying to grab that local fan base and say, ‘Hey, this is a new game. It's an exciting game. If you're intrigued by it, come down, watch it, learn it.’ And I think over the last couple of months as well, especially with the [T20] World Cup, there was a lot of coverage around that and a lot of people, a lot of media outlets who normally don't discuss cricket started talking about cricket, which is fantastic for the game in general.

“But again, there's the thirst for it and we just need to make sure we can kind of keep applying that when we can. And yeah, I think it's got so much room to grow. It's exciting. It's an exciting time to be involved in cricket in America.

NBCSBA: “You were part of the Team USA win over Pakistan [in the T20 World Cup], which was a massive upset. I was in New York at the time and I got alerts from national media, American media, that normally don't send alerts about cricket. But that was a big, big deal. That was talked about everywhere. What was it like being part of that and just that kind of an upset?”

Anderson: “It's pretty surreal. I mean, USA Cricket in terms of I guess our fan base itself is we're kind of basically unknown to a degree. I think a lot of Americans didn't realize we even had a cricket team. So we were obviously massive underdogs in terms of trying to go up against these big nations. And I think the beauty of it as well as I've been on the other side of it, where I've played for one of the top eight nations in the world, and you're always a chance at winning and you're always trying to strike winning that trophy.

“And I think being on the other side now, it's funny because I know that can scare teams when you're a little team because you can ruin someone's day and ruin someone's World Cup. I think the outlook we had was, yes, we were underdogs, but let's lean into that and kind of create a little bit of carnage.

“And if we can catch people on the hop a little bit and have them vulnerable and we end up having a good day, then I know we've got the talent to be able to do it. And I think we saw that against Pakistan. You tend to find against those big teams, the big teams might crumble and just have a really bad day and they end up losing the game instead of the other team winning.

“But I think in that regard, when we played Pakistan, we genuinely beat them. We actually won. We played really good cricket from Ball One all the way through. Ideally, it wouldn't have gone [to a] Super Over. We probably dragged that out a little bit too much, but we still did the job and I think for 95 percent of that game we were in control.

“And I think that shows people the talent that we do have that we can compete against some of the biggest players in the world. And that was a huge confidence booster, not only for the guys themselves, but I think just the landscape of cricket in America to understand that yes, we can compete and we can perform against these big teams and it shows people that there is the hype that's been drawn in the last two or three years around Major League Cricket and trying to grow it kind of gives a bit of an answer to say this is why these things are in place and this is where we can get to and this is why we need to continue to play high levels of cricket against the best teams in the world. Because we can compete, we can get better, and the only way is up. The sky's the limit in where we can actually go to. And I know there's a lot of local talent, a lot of young kids who are really good at cricket, but unfortunately there's never really been a pathway for them to continue playing the game.

“So with Major League Cricket and Minor League Cricket, we can now say to the younger generation, there's a career for you here if you want it, and if you want to keep pursuing it and you love this game, it's all in front of you. And I think now that's a good time to get into cricket because it's just going to get bigger and bigger."

NBCSBA: “It sets the stage for future World Cups, for Team USA in future World Cups. But also Cricket is returning to the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles. Do you hope to play for Team USA in four years and how do you see that stage helping cricket grow in the US?"

Anderson: “I think in four more years’ time, it’s hard to know what's going to happen in four years' time. I moved here four years ago and a lot's happened in that space of time. So, look, I think that I'm extremely excited to be able to potentially have the opportunity to be involved in another World Cup and also an Olympics. I think the great thing as well is that USA cricket's generally never had more than kind of 12 months in front of them where they could plan and they know what they're doing and schedule and things like that.

“We've now got a four-year cycle here where in two years’ time there's another T20 World Cup to try and prepare for. Post that another two years after that there is an Olympics and it's on our shores. And I think that's just such an exciting prospect to say not only to the cricketers themselves, but to sponsors anyone who wants to get involved with USA cricket is a four-year cycle here, which is a huge time to get involved. And the upside is massive, obviously, because you're now on the biggest stage and we've shown that we can compete on the biggest stage.

“And again, the USA always has this wonderful thing of any time they plan an event, regardless of what sport it is or what league it is, eyes are always tuned to the US because again, that one of the most powerful countries in the world and in terms of sport, they love sports and I think they love an underdog and they love a winner.

“And I think when we started taking the blocks on both of those during the World Cup, we obviously didn't win it entirely. But I think we probably arguably won people's hearts over during that process. And I think that kind of goes a long way to it as well.”

NBCSBA: “You definitely got people's attention in this country. I had coworkers who don't watch cricket who saw that and were like, ‘Were you there for that match? I'm like, “No, I was in New York, not in Dallas,’ but that's the attention that kind of upset got. It was people that don't normally watch it are talking about it. So that's kind of the goal, right? Is to win the matches and get people's attention."

Anderson: “And that's the thing. And there's going to be so many different ways to try and attract people to the game. It can't always just be the one side, but it's got to be so, so many different angles and so many different ways to try and get people to get involved in this game and understand it and learn it and love it. And that's just one of those places I think everyone loves when they're in love, loves a story and a narrative behind that and I think we've created that and we just need to continue to keep growing that as well.

“And it's exciting for people to kind of know that they got an early on the journey and can see it start to flourish and see where it gets to over a period of time. We will also take bandwagon fans as well if we get to a point of that as well. But I think it's just exciting to obviously be involved with it and get to the point where we're at the moment.

“I think the guys have made such huge sacrifices to be here and I think that probably gets missed a little bit. I know a lot of the guys aren’t originally born in the US and have got very different stories around how they got here. And I’ve heard multiple times just through other sources in terms media that it a bit of an artificial team. I think the guys take offense to that in a way because we’ve sacrificed a lot to be in this situation and moving countries and uprooting your life is not easy. And the guys worked very, very hard to get where they are. I know when we put on the USA jersey, we’re extremely proud to play for it.

“And I think that was the big thing we discussed during the World Cup. Yes, we’re not the favorite. We’re not expected to win. We’re not even expected to through to the top eight. But if we lose every game, results are results and you can’t really do anything about the outcome. But we wanted to make sure we made USA proud of the cricket team and there’s so many ways you can do that, whether its chasing a ball to boundary, keep fighting to the very end regardless of how it looks. And I think we did that for the majority of the tournament and that’s what people loved the most about it. I think our attitude towards our, I guess, our moral compass of why and how we’re playing for the US is fantastic. Hopefully we can just shepherd the next generation into that USA team and continue to grow.”

NBCSBA: “Has there been any talk of like Team USA doing tours of [countries] like India or Pakistan or Australia, New Zealand or South Africa or any of the big eight countries?

Anderson: “I think I think that's something that the ICC is always going to have to be the one who does the scheduling and figure out those future tours. But I think again, there’s a need and a want. We obviously would love to do it because it increases the value of what we are doing and the talent that we have that’ll keep producing cricketers here and being able to know that they can play against these players. But I think sometimes it doesn't always match up with those schedulings..

“And I know that teams would love to come across to the States and again, in time, I think when we have more infrastructure that's going to be more and more feasible. But yeah, I think if it's teams wanting to do almost like a mini-tour before they go to another nation, like a warm-up series or something like that, I think at that moment where we're not going to be extremely picky around who wants to do it, they come to our shores and I think that's the exciting thing.

“I think they know now that when they play the USA, we can compete and they can get some really good cricket and be tested as well. So that probably hasn't happened in the past. So that's probably changed the narrative around who we can potentially play in and when we potentially play them. So that's extremely exciting.”

NBCSBA: “[The Unicorns] recently added Australian National Team captain Pat Cummins. What has it been like having him on somebody of his stature on the roster?”

Anderson: “It's huge. I mean, any time you bring in one of the best players in the world, it's going to lift the team and they're going to be extremely excited to play alongside him. And [I’ve been] lucky enough to play with Pat a handful of times during the IPL and he's a great human being as well.

“Sometimes the biggest players in the world, sometimes it goes the other way when they get into a changing room. But the amount of knowledge that [he] has and what he's willing to give to guys, to help them. I think he's also saying this is an opportunity to help grow the game and it's an exciting prospect.

“And kudos to him as well. He’s had hardly any time over the last six months, basically, and for him to want to be involved with the Unicorns is huge. It's not only for the players to be able to have him involved and the fans, but just the marketing aspect of having Pat involved in groups.

“I know he's helped me tremendously in terms of captaining the side, calling on him to be a bit of a sounding board when I'm out there in the middle as well. It's been so valuable. He's a great guy to have in the group and I'm glad he's here long-term as well."

NBCSBA: “I know he signed a four-year contract so … he made a sizable commitment to playing in Major League Cricket, playing for the Unicorns like that. That has to feel good that somebody of his stature is willing to make that kind of commitment. [He’s going to] come here every year for the next couple of years, right?"

Anderson: “Massively. I think it's smart for his side. And I think smart from the Unicorn side as well. I think you want to you want to get the best players in the world and you want to try and have as long as you possibly can. So yeah, I think that's a win-win for both camps and I know I'm extremely excited to have him in the group for a lot longer.

“Hopefully we can continue to have a similar group going forward as well. I know franchise cricket tends to change very quickly and scheduling and availability always seems to be an issue that comes up. But the group at the moment is fantastic and I know we're winning and it makes things a little bit easier as well.

“But regardless of that, that's been a great group to be around. And yeah, hopefully, we can kind of stick together and keep continuing to grow our culture as well.”

NBCSBA: “Pat was quoted in a story recently that he said your presence, along with Coach Shane Watson, played a part in his decision to play in Major League Cricket. What does it mean to you to have that kind of impact on your peers?”

Anderson: “Yes, that's great. I think you can try and get guys who enjoy playing alongside you or things like that. That's obviously such a big, big one in terms of feeling proud about what you're doing. But again, I think when you look at cricket as a whole and you look at the guys that you play alongside when you're out there in the field and your batting and bowling and fielding that, that's obviously from what people see is a big part of the game.

“Obviously it's how you win games and it's how you go about your stuff. But I think the human element of it being off the field and understanding that when you've got a team that you get along with and guys gel well together, you can go and have a drink question or a coffee or whatever it might be, that makes such a huge difference in the performance part as well.

“Like I said before, Pat's just a great human being and there's probably not so many better guys to have involved in this group. It's extremely exciting to have him and it's nice of him to say those kind words.”

NBCSBA: “You guys play Washington [on Monday] and then you play them again in a Qualifier. You could potentially play them a third straight time in the [Major League Cricket] Final. How do you see your squad matching up with Washington? And then when you're preparing for a match like that and you know you're going to see them again potentially two more times, do you potentially hold anything back in [Monday’s] match so that you don't give them anything to look out for the following matches or do you play it straight up?”

Anderson: “Good question. I mean, it's probably a little bit more of a unique situation because, like you said, yeah, we could be looking at playing them three times in a row. That's in a perfect world. That would be nice if that's the case, because it would mean we’re through to the Final. But that being said, yeah, tonight's an interesting one.

“We've had a few niggles in the camp regarding some injuries and things like that, so we've just got to be cautious. Obviously moving forward. It's always nice to know that you're already in that 1 and 2 spot and playing in the Finals with another life. But I think momentum and cricket's such a massive thing and I think most sports would probably say the same thing that you want to get your straps and you kind of want to keep going and when things are thinking, you get yourself in those situations, more than not, you start understanding how you need to win and it'll change from game to game.

“But I don't think you want to take the foot off the throat or foot off the gas. I think, yeah, you still got to put your best foot forward and try and play the best cricket you can. And yeah, there might be some tactics around something slightly different. But again, I think the talent that we've got on our side is it's obviously extremely exciting. “And hopefully tonight, [it] goes similar way to what has been as well and guys can do their job and we can still get a win. Yeah nice to know we're through the Finals. Still got work to do."