The Amila Aponso Gambit
Washington's little-used but well-seasoned spinner was the perfect tone-setter for cracking open the MLC title race - and yet another validation of their team culture.
On July 18, 2024, left arm spinner Amila Aponso made his Major League Cricket debut in Texas. He bowled the fifth over of Washington’s game against the Super Kings at Grand Prairie Stadium.
It was six balls of finely distilled misery for the former Sri Lanka international.
Faf du Plessis rocked him for 22 runs, and he didn’t bowl again. For a while, it looked like his first MLC appearance might also be his last, but the Freedom retained him for 2025 and used him in the attack for the first time on Saturday afternoon against first place San Francisco. Not only that, he opened the innings as the Freedom tried to make 169 stand up at a ground that has routinely produced scores in the 200s. No pressure.
It’s not like the guy is Kwame Brown, though - he was successful in nine white ball appearances with Sri Lanka before moving to the US in 2021, taking an ODI four’fer that included Steve Smith to bowl Australia out 82 runs short at RPS in 2016. He also built a stout track record of power play bowling in Minor League Cricket with 33 wickets in 65 power play overs and a 4.89 economy in four seasons there. Spin in the power play is less of a bugaboo than it used to be, even moreso when Akeal Hosein and Harmeet Singh found success on the same pitch Aponso was bowling on. Hosein is a force of nature day or night, but Harmeet’s good power play came in the only game played in similar conditions to what the Freedom and Unicorns faced. On a bone dry wicket in the sweltering Texas heat, Ricky Ponting and Washington’s “Think Tank” backed their man to get the job done despite their only live game experience with him being forgettable at best.
That confidence paid off, and Aponso delivered. He bowled the first, third, and sixth overs of the power play; he yielded just 20 runs in that time, baited MLC’s then-leading scorer out of his crease and got him to chop on, and produced dot balls on a whopping 61% of his legal power play deliveries… right in line with his dot percentage in MiLC. Fellow left arm spinner Rachin Ravindra bowled out Jake Fraser-McGurk with a peach of a delivery in the first over after the power play to stack wickets with Aponso. Ian Holland complemented the spinners early on with medium pace, and when the pressure was on the chasing team, Mitchell Owen pounced for the first fivefer of MLC’s 2025 season, reasserting himself as the MVP frontrunner after going for a first-ball duck in Washington’s innings.
The point isn’t that Aponso is some hidden gem. It’s that Washington is the best team in the league at utilizing the strengths of the entire roster and positioning players for success, which is why they’re top of the table again despite major turnover.
Most of Washington’s core from last season’s title run, with its dominant opening partnership and lethal pace attack, did not return. Steve Smith, Travis Head, and Marco Jansen aren’t with the team, Lockie Ferguson is hurt, and Rachin Ravindra was always going to be hard-pressed to match the bowling numbers he produced last year. Ponting has been challenged to maximize a roster that doesn’t have the same overwhelming star power, and he has nailed it. Nearly every player has contributed something to the team’s success this season, and Mitchell Owen is a breakout star and likely the runaway MVP of MLC 2025.
Ian Holland had a bit part last year; he’s now the team’s top bowler by average and has an economy of 7.26. Jack Edwards was 7-78 in 11 overs in Oakland. Andries Gous delivered an unbeaten 80 to get them across the line in a tricky chase against TSK in Grand Prairie. Obus Pienaar has chipped in handy knocks at the ends of innings to make life difficult for opponents. Maxwell and Phillips are empowered as on-field leaders and deliver plenty with the bat themselves. When everyone is embraced and valued for what they contribute and not admonished for what they don’t, a funny thing happens where they commit to the team, and the team gets better. Aponso is just the latest example of what that culture can do for players, and how those players can lift a team in ways great and small.
It might not be a one-off, either. The Freedom are scheduled to face Texas in Lauderhill tonight. Aponso has earned a second act with his efforts on Saturday, and Faf hasn’t gone anywhere - if anything, he’s even better than he was last year, and he has been unstoppable in the power play. Will round two be different?
Thank you so much for reading Stumps & Stripes! This was a really fun piece to write, and I’m having a blast putting this thing together and building an audience. If you like what you read above, please consider supporting the newsletter with a free email subscription. You can also check out additional work, like my frustrated appeal to the Orcas to start their youth movement (which they have done with Ayan Desai, and he has taken three wickets in seven overs).
Play the Kids, Seattle
This piece was written and published shortly before the news that Seattle had made a change in both captaincy and head coach, with Heinrich Klaasen stepping aside and Matthew Mott being relieved of duties. It has been lightly edited to reflect this development.
Shocking development: my next piece is about Shimron Hetmyer. That’s on the way tomorrow, and then I’m off for the Fourth of July weekend. Stay tuned!