Nirranda export Brody Couch will ply his trade for the San Francisco Unicorns in America's inaugural Major League Cricket season, with some familiar faces set to join him at the professional Twenty20 franchise.
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Couch, who qualifies as a local player through his mother Karin's US heritage, was selected by the Unicorns with pick 33 in the domestic player draft on Monday (Australian time).
The 23-year-old will be re-united with former Victorian teammate Aaron Finch and fellow Melbourne Star Marcus Stoinis who headline the side's international signings.
Finch, who recently retired from international cricket after an illustrious career captaining Australia in T20s and one-dayers, will skipper the franchise.
"It's pretty exciting stuff, that's for sure," Couch told The Standard.
"I'm bloody looking forward to it, it should be awesome.
"They (Finch and Stoinis) are good people and great teammates so I can't wait to get over there and play with them again. They're world class players so it's going to be great to continue to learn off them as well."
Couch, who had just arrived back in Australia after competing in the league's draft combine, was pleased with the other local draft selections from his team.
The Unicorns nabbed Former New Zealand Blackcaps all-rounder Cory Anderson and England world-cup-winning pace-man Liam Plunkett with earlier picks.
Other notable signings announced included big-hitting Aussie all-rounder Mitch Marsh joining the Seattle Orcas alongside South African wicketkeeper Quinten de Kock.
Couch has high hopes for the competition which begins on July 13 at Grand Prairie Stadium near Dallas, Texas.
"It'll be one of the strongest competitions, that's for sure, I reckon going around," he said.
"Just the sheer factor of having nine internationals on a roster. You're going to have world-class players in every team. It's new and it's fresh and it's going to be real exciting."
Couch said his time in the USA before the draft was beneficial for learning about the different playing conditions in America and building connections with other players.
He intends on playing in the minor league competition (tier below) in the lead-up to the MLC and will keep training back in Melbourne until then.
The Victorian is keeping his expectations simple before the MLC season, saying he is "just trying to improve" his cricket.
"I think being exposed to conditions and exposed to world-class players is going to help me move forward and I think it's only going to benefit my cricket," he said.
Couch's father, Corey, was thrilled to see his son selected by the Unicorns.
"It was a good reward for heading over there and doing the hard yards," he said.
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