Liam Plunkett’s second act: how a World Cup winner is building cricket in America | Broken cricket dreams Cricket blog

In the summer of 2007, my family moved to the United States. I was ten and had been playing cricket for my school in Mumbai for the past three years. Cricket was the dream and life revolved around it.

Oloukola, that structure simply did not exist. There were no school teams, no coaches and no clear place for a young cricketer to develop.

It was just my brother and I, sometimes joined by a few friends, playing impromptu Test cricket on a basketball court in the neighborhood park.

That absence is why Liam Plunkett’s work is worth paying attention to in America.

This piece looks at the second act of World Cup winner Liam Plunkett. No longer just a cricketer, he is now also a coach, commentator, businessman and one of the driving forces behind grassroots cricket in the United States.

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What cricket in America is missing

Investors often view the United States as a potential goldmine for cricket. Critics, on the other hand, do point it out administrative issues within American cricket and dismissing the American market as hopeless.

Both views contain a grain of truth. The reality lies somewhere in the middle.

The launch of Major League Cricket (MLC) four years ago, the construction of new stadiums and the arrival of international names such as Corey Anderson and Liam Plunkett helped start the conversation. Club cricket is already well established in major urban areas, largely driven by expat communities. Trips like Avinash’s in Iowa showcase the range of competitions that exist within American college and club cricket.

Yet two key components are still missing: cricket as an official NCAA college sport and a true grassroots structure for young players.

Plunkett’s journey to addressing this imbalance began long before America entered the picture.

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Liam Plunkett’s first act

Liam Plunkett started his County career with Durham in 2003, shortly after turning eighteen.

He quickly made his breakthrough, taking 50 wickets in the 2005 season and soon after earned an England call-up in 2005.. County success followed, including a starring role in the 2007 Friends Provident Trophy and consecutive County Championship titles in 2008 and 2009.

However, his international career was much less linear. After his first spell with England in 2006-07, he went almost seven years without any sustained performance in the national team. Even then he was a valuable contributor, an exceptional fielder and also played in England’s top flight 9th wicket ODI partnership with super-sub Vikram Solanki in just his 2nd ODI.

After 2016, things have changed.

Plunkett once again emerged as a regular in England’s white-ball teams, first at the 2016 T20 World Cup, and then more decisively in ODI cricket. From 2016 to the 2019 ODI World Cup Final, he took 90 wickets in 53 innings at an average of 27.02, establishing himself as one of the game’s premier players. most reliable middle-overs bowlers.

He played a decisive role in England’s 2019 World Cup victory, finishing the tournament with 11 wickets. His spell of 10-0-42-3 in the final removed Kane WilliamsonHenry Nicholls and Jimmy Neesham, keeping England in the match. Not to forget the crucial 17-run partnership with Ben Stokes in the tense chase.

Plunkett’s first act was shaped by adapting, finding a role, refining it and staying relevant.

Resigned, but not done

It would turn out that the World Cup final was his last appearance in an England jersey. At the height of his powers, Liam Plunkett was dropped with little communication. In his own words: “Disappointment is an understatement.”

The pandemic soon followed, bringing international cricket to a standstill. For a while, it was easy to assume his career was over.

Then the second act began.

Plunkett’s wife is American, and Philadelphia had long been familiar territory. He spent a few months there every year, even before he left England. After the axe, he started playing Minor League with the Philadelphians, a team with deep historical ties to the American game.

When Major League Cricket followed suit, Plunkett was affiliated with the San Francisco Unicorns. What initially seemed like a farewell started to look more and more like a transition.

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America as an opportunity, not an exit

Three years later, Plunkett is still playing in the MLC, with at least one professional season remaining. America helped him to develop further.

In an episode of Under the lid Through The cricketerPlunkett told how his involvement in the game went far beyond just playing. This has taken several forms:

When Plunkett signed for MLC, his role was not limited to playing in the Minor League and Major League. It also included a stint as a national development coach and coaching at local academy level. That exposure made it impossible to ignore one hole.

LPC is built around that gap. The focus is not only on talent, but also on structure, which helps young players learn how to learn correctly and coaches learn how to teach.

Now Liam Plunkett is introducing a new generation of cricket to the US and also helping coaches learn how to teach it effectively 👏

Another great example of a member who stimulates his/her personal development during #FuturesMonth 👊

Listen to #OnderHetLid ➡️ https://t.co/qdZ5g4Q2Fd pic.twitter.com/xtKVvY0Vzs

— PCA (@PCA) November 24, 2025

Technology, training and the American sports model

I recently started playing golf and indoor soccer this year, and one thing immediately stood out: how central the training infrastructure is for both sports.

Golf has invested heavily in technology indoor simulators for tracking apps like TopTracer rangeused by both professionals and amateurs. Indoor football follows a similar model, with organizations such as TOCA football offers year-round training, coaching and competitions for children.

These high-quality training centers are essential for the sports development of talent. Cricket, on the other hand, has largely lagged behind.

On That’s cricket Stuart Giles spoke about efforts to introduce indoor simulation facilities in the United States through Century Cricket, his Australia-based company that partners with Bangalore Tech Labs in India. Their simulators are designed to allow cricketers to train all year round, regardless of the weather. A training center has opened in Houston and another is planned for Manhattan.

Why Manhattan? Outside the cricket playing community, Steve Smith spends much of his year in New York City and is looking forward to a place at the LA28 Olympic Games.

As Giles put it:

“If you put your Australian hat on, our best player and probably the key to Ashes success spends six months of the year in New York and cannot train or improve anywhere.”

Following Steve Smith’s journey in New York can further captivate audiences.

Jomboy, baseball and the American fan

Infrastructure along is not enough. Awareness is just as important.

Cricket remains unknown to most Americans. That’s where platforms like Jomboy Media come into the picture and help bridge the gap.

What started as a baseball podcast has grown into a large-scale media operation. Are cricket breakdowns are iconic and the Warehouse gamesa hybrid format between cricket and baseball bridges the gap between the audience. Plunkett’s Beach Cricket initiative featured Jomboy, and they have since collaborated on several podcasting appearances.

We already see crossover moments: Grand Prairie Stadium baseball stadium converted for MLC, retired baseball players trying out for cricketSteve Smith & KP test baseball batsHarry Brook learns cricket in Europe, and data-driven comparisons between Shohei Ohtani and Tim David’s hitting range.

At the intersection of audiences, the future may lie in commercializing cricket in America.

How can you participate?

Liam Plunkett and his coaching staff cannot be everywhere. That’s why LPC is designed to scale coaching in the US. Currently, LPC offers two core pathways:

• Rookie Player Course – This course is designed for beginners and covers the basics of batting, bowling, wicketkeeping and fielding.
• Coaching courses – This is for both Rookie Coach (Level 1) and Development Coach (Level 2). These courses are great for aspiring coaches who want to learn how to structure their sessions and learn how to coach cricket really effectively.

For readers interested in exploring these programs, you can use code PlunkettBCD2025 received 20% discount.

Revelation: This is an affiliate link, which means we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This supports our efforts to provide you with valuable content. Thank you for your support.

Here’s what kind of online training you can get.

Why this second act matters

Liam Plunkett is still bowling fast, and perhaps we’ll see another season of him sending down absolute rockets.

“82, 83 on a good day…I’ll be 41 next year. You know, I would love to bowl another ball at 90 miles per hour. I’m not sure if I have it in my locker, but I’ll do my best to get to that point.”

Liam Plunkett’s story is one of reinvention, and I’m curious to see what he’s pursuing behind the scenes as he builds American cricket.

These efforts alone won’t solve American cricket’s infrastructure problems, but at least it’s a start. It is a recognition that visibility, business investment and grassroots programs are necessary if cricket has any chance of surviving in the United States.

Maybe in thirty years, a kid in Oklahoma will fall in love with cricket the same way, but it doesn’t have to stop there because coaching, facilities and a path to pursue the dream will already exist.

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Thank you all for reading! I leave you here, Liam Plunkett rattling the stumps.

BCD#407 © Copyright @Nitesh Mathur and Broken Cricket Dreams, LLC 2023. Originally published 12/14/2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Broken Cricket Dreams with appropriate and specific direction to the original content (i.e. linked to the exact post/article).

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