The Icons of Cricket Play on American Soil for First Time

NEW YORK, Oct. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Global cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne will headline a star-studded lineup of renowned cricket players from around the world in the inaugural "Cricket All-Stars," a three-game series in New York City, Houston and Los Angeles.  The historic tour marks the first time these legends have played in the U.S., and also renews the famous rivalry between "Master Blaster" Tendulkar and "King of Spin" Warne.

The "Cricket All-Stars" kicks off on November 7 at Citi Field in New York City with a special opening ceremony prior to the match as well as other functions and galas.  The second match will be on November 11 at Minute Maid Park in Houston.  The final match in the series will be on November 14 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, followed by a special trophy presentation to the winning team. 

The format will be T20, a much shorter and boisterous form of cricket with the games taking around three hours instead of multiple days.  Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Australian spinner Shane Warne will each captain a hand-picked team.  "Sachin's Blasters" and "Warne's Warriors" will feature some of the best players to ever play cricket hailing from eight different countries including Ricky Ponting (Australia), Brian Lara (West Indies), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), Wasim Akram (Pakistan), Jonty Rhodes (South Africa) and Michael Vaughan (England), among others.

"Americans are so passionate about sports, and I think there's a huge potential for cricket to take off," said Sachin Tendulkar.  "This is also the first time that international cricket will be played in these beautiful baseball stadiums in New York City, Houston and Los Angeles, which will be a lot of fun.  We're also planning some other events and festivities in each city so we can reach as many fans as possible.  It would be great someday to see cricket bats right alongside the baseball bats, basketballs and soccer balls in America."

"We've signed all the top players you'd ever want to see," said Shane Warne.  "I'm excited for cricket fans in the United States to be able to see these amazing players for the first time, and I also think that the T20 format will appeal to new audiences who have never seen or played cricket before.  I'm really looking forward to the matches in November, and helping to grow the sport of cricket in America."

As a sponsor of "Cricket All-Stars," MasterCard will provide its cardholders exclusive access to event tickets and Priceless experiences throughout the series.  A few lucky cardholders will even have the opportunity to meet some of the players.  The pre-sale for MasterCard holders will begin on October 6.  Tickets go on sale to the general public on October 8.  Tickets are available through the following:

Citi Field (NYC):  Mets.com/cricket
Minute Maid Park (Houston): Ticketmaster.com/event/3A004F3195293147 
Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles):  Dodgers.com/cricket 

"Cricket All-Stars" is being produced by NYC-based Leverage Agency, a full-service sports and entertainment marketing company.  Leverage will also handle the marketing and promotion for the event.  Sponsors for "Cricket All-Stars" include MasterCard, State Farm® and Uber. 

"It's been a dream of mine to help bring the best of cricket to America," said Ben Sturner, CEO of Leverage Agency.  "Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world and we couldn't ask for better partners than Sachin and Shane on this exciting venture."

For information on Cricket All-Stars, visit: CricketAllStarsLeague.com. Facebook.com/cricketallstars

For Sachin Tendulkar, visit:  Facebook.com/SachinTendulkar. Twitter.com/sachin_rt  (@Sachin_rt)

For Shane Warne, visit:  Facebook.com/officialshanewarne. Twitter.com/shanewarne  (@ShaneWarne)

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SOURCE Leverage Agency