Out of over 500 players who had shown interest to take part in South Africa's latest T20 venture - SA20 - 318 have been shortlisted for the auction by the six franchises, slated to take place in Cape Town on September 19.
Out of that, 22 players have already been picked by the franchises ahead of the auction and the franchises have a remaining purse of USD 2 Million.
🏏🏏🏏#SA20Auction coming to you in exactly 7 days.🏏🏏🏏 pic.twitter.com/wtaS0INNfD
— SA20_League (@SA20_League) September 12, 2022
“We are thrilled with the interest received from the cricket community to be a part of the SA20," SA20 League Commissioner, Graeme Smith said.
"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 on a global stage. We are looking forward to the auction and seeing how the squads are formed for this exciting first edition of the SA20.”
Other than South Africa (160), players from Australia (3), West Indies (31), England (54), New Zealand (4), Sri Lanka (30), Zimbabwe (3), Scotland (4), Afghanistan (13), Ireland (7), Hong Kong (1), USA (3), Netherlands (4) and Namibia (1) have also put their names up for auction, according to a CSA media release.
The highest reserve price in the auction will be R1,700,000 (USD 1 million approx) with international stars such as James Neesham, Odean Smith, Jason Roy, Eoin Morgan, Chamika Karunaratne, Tymal Mills, Jayden Seales and Adil Rashid registering themselves for that reserve price.
The league will consist of six teams - Joburg Super Kings, Pretoria Capitals, Durban’s Super Giants, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Paarl Royals and MI Cape Town. The inaugural edition of the tournament will be played in January 2023 and is likely to be played in that window every year.