South Africa has successfully launched a franchise T20 tournament after three failed attempts. The SA20, which begins on Tuesday, is not the Global League T20 or the Mzansi Super League. The latest league on the circuit is covered in the following guide.
Well, not only is there no T in this T20 tournament, but there is also no Premier or League in it. It is thereby starting a completely new name phenomenon. In fact, SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith claimed that they purposefully omitted the T to demonstrate their desire to differ.
Actually, there is a significant issue. Before the coin toss, captains may choose 13 players, and they may then narrow that list down to the final XI. Once they know whether they will be batting or bowling first, they can choose their tactical team accordingly. However, aside from that, even without the T, it is still a T20 competition and takes essentially the same format as another one you may be familiar with. There will be a round-robin phase in which the six teams compete against one another both at home and away, followed by semifinals and a championship game. Each team is allocated a squad of 18 players, the majority of whom are South Africans, according to a pre-tournament auction. They will be permitted to field four foreign players in each starting XI on match days.
Ka-ching! All six teams are owned by IPL franchises, and they have even given South African cities their cutesy names. There are the Paarl Royals, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Durban Super Giants, Pretoria Capitals, Joburg Super Kings, and everyone’s favorite reinterpretation, MI Cape Town (pronounced MY Cape Town).
You’re correct in that. One of the reasons no South African companies were able to join the league was because of large offers from IPL teams. The franchises were reportedly all purchased for over a million dollars, with Johannesburg and Cape Town reportedly costing USD 28 million each, though the exact amounts have not been made public. The good news for these investors is that they can anticipate a return as soon as the first year. Even though CSA had forecasted it would take five years, the league is anticipated to break even as early as the first year thanks to a respectable broadcast agreement in India and subsequently with other international media providers.
There are more than $4 million in prizes up for grabs. The auction also had big money being traded. At USD 520,000 (roughly R9.2 million), Tristan Stubbs was the most expensive purchase. Other Rand millionaires include Reeza Hendricks, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryn Dupavillon, Evan Jones, Bjorn Fortuin, Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan Dwaine Pretorius, Rilee Rossouw, Donovan Ferreira, Marco, Duan Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, Sisanda Magala, George Linde and Heinrich Klaasen.
You’ve now touched a nerve. Bavuma, who had a base price of R850,000 ($50,000), failed to find a buyer at the auction due to a protracted injury and poor performance. Bavuma had a poor T20I record at the time of the auction on September 19, having missed more than three months of competitive cricket due to an elbow injury that kept him out of South Africa’s whole tour of England. In 25 games, he had an average score of 26.86 and, more worrisomely, a strike rate of 120.60. He acknowledged that he was sad to have been passed over for the competition. The situation then deteriorated. Bavuma struggled upon his return to the field; he was removed for two ducks and three in a series against India and only managed to score 70 runs at a strike rate of under 100 in five T20 World Cup games.
Since then, there have been doubts about whether he deserves to be the leader of South Africa’s T20 team, let alone a spot in the team as a batter. The whole scenario is really nasty, especially since Bavuma is South Africa’s first black African captain and has led the team through some of its most trying periods.
He wasn’t the only one who was forgotten, though. Among the more well-known South African players who will miss out are Dean Elgar and Keegan Petersen. Andile Phehlukwayo, a South African all-rounder, was also not purchased during the auction but was signed by Paarl Royals as a wild card player.
That’s accurate. The SA20 has completely excluded a region of South Africa that is progressively being excluded from high-profile cricket. Due to the absence of an SA20 squad, the so-called central area, which encompasses the Free State province and the cities of Bloemfontein and Kimberley, will not host any games or take part in the event. This is quite the cold shoulder considering that the Free State provincial team competes in Division 1 of the current domestic set up and that the Bloemfontein-Kimberley franchise, known as the Knights, was one of the six franchises in South Africa’s former top division.
Even though it may not be the most attractive portion of the country, the central region has produced some of the best cricket players in the nation, including Allan Donald, and is home to some of the best schools for the sport, including Grey College. The three World Cup Super League ODIs against England between January 27 and February 1 will be played there, which is a consolation prize for the 3 million residents of the Free State who will not witness any of the glitz and glamour of the SA20. Whether that talent is being utilized in other areas or completely neglected, however, remains to be seen.
Yes, there are, and it was inevitable. These are the games that were rescheduled for November 2020 after an epidemic of Covid-19 in the England and South African camps and the identification of the beta version caused England to depart early. In addition to the significant financial incentive provided by the broadcast rights, South Africa must win at least one of these games to guarantee automatic qualification for the 2023 World Cup. South Africa is now ranked 11th in the standings with only five games left after forgoing three ODIs in Australia to make room for the SA20. To move up to the ninth place, they must win three out of those five games; else, they will compete in Zimbabwe in June.
We will divulge! Similar to the Hundred, the SA20 will take place at the grounds and will feature some of South Africa’s finest musical acts, including Master KG (not KG Rabada), known for his hit song Jerusalema (you have to know the dance), and rapper Sho Majozi, who made an appearance on the Ella Mai music video.
We certainly hope so, since Cricket South Africa really needs it. Due in large part to Thabang Moroe’s wasteful tenure as CEO between 2017 and 2019, during which time they also lost practically all of their donors, the organization is currently experiencing severe financial hardship. All three domestic tournaments, including the national men’s squad, are still without corporate support, and CSA has already experienced two years of losses, which will be followed by a third this year. Some insiders believe they won’t be able to live for more than a year or two without something filling the coffers soon, and this is expected to be it. Their cash reserves are so low (down from over a billion rand a few years ago to barely tens of millions presently).
However, it’s not all about the cash. With the Test squad performing horribly in Australia and the white-ball teams being as far away as they can be from a World Cup victory, morale in South African cricket is at an all-time low. A place where players can grow away from the stodgy style of play that has come to dominate the game and toward a more proactive and enjoyable way of being is needed for the nation’s need for a fun infusion and for both of those things to happen.
