The list of available players is more than three times longer than what is needed for the inaugural SA20 tournament – underlining the clamour to board the T20 train to riches. There are 80 spots available between the six teams and 318 players will go on auction on 19 September.

Players from Australia, West Indies, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Afghanistan, Ireland, Hong Kong, the US, Netherlands and Namibia will go under the hammer for places in the squads of the six newly formed franchises.

The list was cut down from more than 500 players who registered interest.

Reserve prices for elite performers, such as England’s 2019 One-Day International World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan, start at R1.7-million.

The bidding for some players will start at R75,000 whereas others, such as rising star Marco Jansen, have a starting bid of R175,000 – which is sure to escalate quickly.

In all, 102 players will participate in the SA20 tournament set for January and February 2023, with 22 having already been contracted in a pre-auction process.

The sale of the remaining 80 players will be by conventional auction, with the base price being increased in increments as franchises bid for a player.

The pre-signed 22 international and domestic players on the list are an impressive collection of talent. Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Rashid Khan and Liam Livingstone are among them.

Each franchise has a salary budget of R34-million ($2-million) to complete its player roster. The starting price for top overseas players is set at R1.7-million, for Proteas players at R850,000 and other South African players at R175,000. But each player could choose to reduce that amount – to increase their chances of being sold.

There is no maximum amount an individual player can be sold for, but budgeting is important as each team is allowed a maximum of seven overseas players, though only four can play at a time.

This opens the door for younger, less expensive South African players to showcase skills before a global crowd as teams will need to balance their 17-player squads.

“Because this league is not a CSA [Cricket South Africa] domestic competition and is effectively privately owned, the reality is every player has an equal shot at a contract and there’s no protection for a player,” South African Cricketers’ Association (Saca) CEO Andrew Breetzke told DM168.

“The only requirement for franchises is you need to be within the $2-million budget. For that to happen, there will be top-level players, but you need the [cheaper] players, who are likely to be younger players.

“We’ll see a spread, from the younger players at lower levels to superstars at the top. It will have to happen naturally or the franchises won’t be able to balance their books.”

SA20 league commissioner Graeme Smith said: “We are thrilled with the interest received from the cricket community to be a part of the SA20.

“The final list of players has an exciting mix of international stars, the class of Proteas players and upcoming talent waiting to make a name for themselves.

“We are looking forward to the auction and seeing how the squads are formed for this exciting first edition of the SA20.”

 CSA recently announced its domestic fixtures, which run from September 2022 to the end of April 2023. Domestic cricket will come to a halt in January and early February 2023 to allow a window for the SA20.

The SA20 is a franchise league, meaning it does not form part of the South African domestic cricket season. So Saca’s hands are tied with regard to player management.

“It falls outside our memorandum of understanding [with CSA] because it’s a separate legal entity, it doesn’t fall within domestic cricket but, from the outset,  the new league has consulted us on various elements as to the progress,” said Breetzke.

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Looking after the players

“We managed the South African player registration process for the league. We’ve been directly involved in the player contract that is being used.

“We’ve put together quite a comprehensive service for players who come. There’s going to be psychologists who will assist players.

“We’re putting together an education platform for players to do accredited online short courses. We’ve got overseas medical cover, which we’ve negotiated with Momentum, assisting us with overseas players.”

There are 12 South African players already signed in the pre-auction process by franchises, leaving 48 spots for other locals. This means many domestic players will be on the periphery in the early stages.

“There’s always going to be opportunities for other players to play in this event. There’s going to be injuries, so the squads are going to be propped up by local players. It doesn’t end after the auction,” said Breetzke.

Saca is working closely with CSA to ensure players not contracted will be able to play some form of competitive cricket in the peak stage of the cricket season. Whether that is a separate, smaller domestic tournament or as part of training squads remains to be seen.

There is interest from owners to expand to eight teams but that depends solely on the success of the inaugural SA20 tournament.

“A successful league will look like us going to CSA and saying, ‘Let’s make it seven teams, let’s make it eight teams.’ There’s definitely interest from owners for there to be eight teams and that would mean more domestic players being able to play. That’s important for the league to be able to grow.” 

Growing forward

There are different contract options available for franchises when purchasing players at the auction.

“There will be some multiple-year contracts; that will be at the discretion of the owners. There’ll be a mix of multiple-year contracts and one-year contracts. It will be similar to the IPL,” said Breetzke.

“A successful tournament would have big crowds, that is broadcast overseas and that there’s sponsors showing interest in the competition. It is also important that it has good cricket and in itself attracts more and better players [in the future].

“We need stadiums to be packed out, we need it to be competitive, we need sponsors to come on board. That will measure its success afterwards, if we get those things in place.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.