One of modern cricket's greats, Steve Smith, has been named as an ambassador for the Washington Freedom of Major League Cricket (MLC).

Steve Smith is widely considered to be one of the best bSatters of all time and has played the game professionally for a long time. The prospect of Smith joining the Washington Freedom squad stoked excitement in the past few days and conjecture about the effect he may make in the MLC, given his experience representing Australia at the top level.

Smith's role in the new relationship is to help spread the word about the team. The Australian is now occupied with playing the English in the Ashes 2023 series in the United Kingdom. With the highest batting average of any batsman after 100 Tests, the right-handed hitter has become an important cog for the World Test Championship (WTC) winners in this series.

A day before the start of MLC, he will serve as an ambassador for the club from the nation's capital, lending his physical prowess, expertise, and unrivalled devotion to the team. “As a team and as a new league, we have not only an opportunity but a duty to grow American cricket. Bringing Steve to help promote the team will undeniably help us do this. He’s a true great of the game and a fantastic person, who is respected the world over. Smith joins as part of our sporting partnership with Cricket New South Wales, with players and coaches also moving on to our roster for our debut MLC campaign,” team founder and owner, Sanjay Govil said.

The first match of Washington Freedom's MLC season will take place on Saturday, July 15, at 6:30 AM BST, when they take on the Seattle Orcas. The squad is captained by Moises Henriques, and it has such stars as Anrich Nortje, Glenn Phillips, and Marco Jansen.