There are six franchises that still need to fill their last gaps at the SA20 Auction. We explain the mechanics of how the process functions.
The third player auction of the SA20 will take play due center, Cape Town, on Tuesday (1 October) as the six franchises are looking to wrap up their teams ahead of the much-anticipated third season which will commence on 9 January 2025.
The auction is set to feature 188 players in total – 115 South African and 73 foreigners – Nevertheless, there are only 13 Opens and 6 Rookies that can be filled. This is about 10% of the total pool which means there is going to be a lot of consternation among the franchises as they seek to plug in the gaps that they have.
Some of the star names who have entered the auction are West Indies fast bowling phenomenon, Shamar Joseph, the England seam bowling quartet of Jake Ball, Saqib Mahmood, Ollie Robinson and Josh Hull and record opening batsman of New Zealand’s T20I, Martin Guptill.
“The auction is always an intriguing period of the year,” said League-beauty, the League Commissioner, Graeme Smith. “As a League, all you have to do is fashion the relevant player regulations and relevant frameworks that enable the teams to focus on what they do best, that is, building elite teams.
‘’We are quite pleased with the kind of players who have come in this year’s to their list. At the end of the day, its comes down to the teams, they’ve done the walking, and the looking out in the world, and within the money-market and obtained some of the very best in their domain. It is necessary that we provide such an infrastructure that teams can be optimally structured so that every match played has meaning. That is what has made the current squads, to me, rather interesting, cannot wait to see how it all comes together.‘’
How will be the functioning of the SA20 Auction?
According to the classification, there will be five groups of players in the first stage of the auction. There will be one round for each of the five specific skills: 1. Batters 2. Wicketkeepers 3. Allrounders 4. Fast bowlers 5. Spin bowlers Each set will have 7-10 players presented per set which will make up 40 players.
Every group will include both local and international players.’’
Once the first 40 players have been introduced, if franchises still have to fill their teams with players, an express round will take place.
They will be asked to name players who were not sold earlier (those who were not sold) and those players present on the auction list.
The players named by the franchises will be placed on an auction block until all teams have a roster of 17 players.
If the express round where no very critical needs were fulfilled finishes with the teams still incomplete, there will be another and last chance for players. These players will be introduced.
The Auction part shall end after all teams have been filled to the brim with 17 players each, and a break shall ensue before the commencement of the Rookie Draft.
What is the Rookie Draft?
The Rookie Draft which was implemented before the second season of the SA20 lasted for two seasons as well. The purpose is for the franchises to include young South African players in their team.
The groups need to acquire a rookie draftee from South Africa, this time a South African player 22 years or younger and without any contract with the SA20. Roughly 89 players are requesting to be entered into the rookie draft after the conclusion of the player auction.
How much purse do franchises have remaining?
The available salary cap for season 3 stand at R39.1 million. Of the remaining teams, the Paarl Royals have the better budget left for the auction at R11.95 million whereas MI Cape Town and Pretoria Capitals have R8.275 million and R4.575 million respectively.
The Joburg Super Kings have a total of R3.925 million, meanwhile , two time champions of the tournament Sunrisers Eastern Cape , retain R 2.845 million in their bank. There is R2.35 million coming out of the bank of the Super Giants of Durban.
Purse remaining:
- Durban’s Super Giants – R2.350 million
- Sunrisers Eastern Cape – R2.845 million
- Joburg Super Kings – R3.295 million
- Pretoria Capitals – R4.575 million
- MI Cape Town – R8.275 million
- Paarl Royals – R11.95 million
Slots remaining:
Durban’s Super Giants
- Remaining slots: 1
- Overseas slots: 1
- Rookie slots: 1
Joburg Super Kings
- Remaining slots: 3
- Overseas slots: 2
- Rookie slots: 1
MI Cape Town
- Remaining slots: 3
- Overseas slots: 1
- Rookie slots: 1
Paarl Royals
- Remaining slots: 1
- Overseas slots: 1
- Rookie slots: 1
Pretoria Capitals
- Remaining slots: 3
- Overseas slots: 3
- Rookie slots: 1
Sunrisers Eastern Cape
- Remaining slots: 2
- Overseas slots: 2
- Rookie slots: 1
