Background Talks of an American
Twenty20 league started in November 2018 just before
USA Cricket became the new governing body of cricket in the United States. In May 2021, USA Cricket announced they had accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a
US$1 billion investment covering the league and other investments benefitting the U.S. national teams. In an Annual General Meeting on February 21, 2020, it was announced that USA Cricket was planning to launch
Major League Cricket in 2021 and
Minor League Cricket that summer, but it was delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and due to the lack of high-quality cricket stadiums in the USA. Major League Cricket was pushed to a summer-2023 launch and Minor League Cricket was pushed back to July 31, 2021. USA Cricket CEO Iain Higgins also pointed out cities such as
New York City,
Houston and
Los Angeles with a large cricket fanbase, and targeted them among others as launch cities for Minor League Cricket.
Exhibition league In July 2020, the player registration for the
Minor League Cricket exhibition league began. On August 15, 2020,
USA Cricket announced the teams participating in the exhibition league matches, also listing the owners for each team. with the DC Hawks releasing their squad on September 2.
Navin Stewart was later named as captain for the DC Hawks in the exhibition league. Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31, they announced
Sunny Sohal as captain and
Adil Bhatti as vice-captain. They then went on to win against the Philadelphians, the Eagles twice, the Titans, the Stallions, and the Cavaliers. They additionally lost against the Philadelphians, the Cavaliers, and the Param Veers. Ahead of the official season, it was announced that American international
Sunny Sohal would continue to captain the team, with former
IPL cricketer
Bipul Sharma taking over the role of vice-captain following
Adil Bhatti's departure to the Empire State Titans. Throughout the season, the Hawks lost twice against the
Stallions, the Titans, and the Yorkers, lost once against the runners-up Atlanta Fire, won once and lost once against the Eagles and the Philadelphians, won once against the Lions, and won twice against the Cavaliers. Overall, the Hawks ended with a 5-9
win-loss record, securing them fifth in their division and unable to go to the play-offs.
2023 season Before the start of the 2023 season, it was announced that the DC Hawks would undergo a name-change to the Baltimore Royals. == Current squad ==