SA20
![]() | |
Countries | ![]() |
---|---|
Administrator | Cricket South Africa |
Format | Twenty20 |
First edition | 2022–23 |
Tournament format | Round-robin and playoffs |
Number of teams | 6 |
Website | thesat20 |
![]() |
The SA20 is a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament to be played in the South Africa.[1][2] The first edition of the tournament is scheduled to take place between January and February 2023, with six teams based on various South African cities competing.[3] In August 2022, the league was formally named the SA20.[4]
History
CSA forayed into franchise-based Twenty20 Cricket in 2017 with the T20 Global League, modelled on the likes of Indian Premier League and Big Bash League. However, the league which was scheduled to be held from November 2017, was deferred by a year due to lack of a broadcast deal and title sponsor. In June, 2018, the event was replaced by Mzansi Super League, a league featuring six CSA-owned teams.[5] Both the leagues became unsuccessful.[6]
The tournament was founded by Cricket South Africa (CSA) in 2022 through a newly-formed entity named Africa Cricket Development (Pty) Limited (ACD), in which CSA is the majority stakeholder, with 50%, while broadcaster SuperSport has a 30% share and former IPL COO Sundar Raman, the remaining 20%.[7] All six of the teams were bought by franchises from the Indian Premier League (IPL).[8] In July 2022, CSA announced that the ODI series against Australia in January 2023 would be cancelled due to focussing more on the tournament.[9] In August 2022, Graeme Smith was announced as the commissioner for the tournament.[10] Later the same month, the marquee players of the tournament were announced.[3]
Organisation
The six teams shall play each other in a double round before the top three sides move to the play-off stages. CSA has announced that teams can acquire players through an auction model as opposed to the draft model, making it the second cricket league in the world after the IPL to do so. Each team will have a squad of 17 players, and will be able to pre-sign up to five players made up of three international players, one Proteas player and one uncapped South African player prior to the auction. Over 30 marquee international players have already been signed by the League, in addition to all contracted Proteas and domestic players who have committed to the League.[11][12]
Teams
The following teams and their owners were announced as taking part in the tournament:[13]
Location of SA20 teams |
Team | City | Home ground | Owner | Captain | Head Coach | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Durban's Super Giants | Durban | Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban | RPSG Group | ![]() |
![]() | |
Joburg Super Kings | Johannesburg | Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg | India Cements | ![]() |
![]() | |
MI Cape Town | Cape Town, Western Cape | Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town | Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited | TBD | ![]() | |
Paarl Royals | Paarl | Boland Park, Paarl | Royals Sports Group | ![]() |
![]() | |
Pretoria Capitals | Pretoria | Centurion Park, Centurion | JSW Group | TBD | ![]() | |
Sunrisers Eastern Cape | Gqeberha, Eastern Cape | St George's Park Cricket Ground, Gqeberha | SUN Group | TBD | ![]() |
Controversy
In July 2022, Hermis Sports Ventures Limited, the owners of Pretoria Mavericks from the now defunct Global T20 League, wrote to CSA asking for a "reasonable opportunity," to submit an application to acquire a franchise in the new tournament, failing which they would consider applying to the courts to issue an interdict to stop the games from going ahead, based on the then CSA CEO Thabang Moroe's assurance that if in the future CSA starts a T20 league, the GLT20 franchise owners will be entitled to ownership of the teams in the new league. However, CSA is confident of seeing off the legal challenge.[20]
References
- ^ "Cricket South Africa announces new six-team franchise-based T20 competition". ESPN Cricinfo.
- ^ "T20 COMES HOME AS CSA AND SUPERSPORT ANNOUNCE GRAND NEW EVENT". Cricket South Africa.
- ^ a b "CSA T20 League 2023: List of players signed up for the first edition". Wisden.
- ^ "CSA T20 league to be called 'SA20'; player auction to be held on September 19". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- ^ "Haroon Lorgat calls for independent inquiry into 'collapsed' T20 Global League". Hindustan Times. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "The SA20 player auction: all you need to know". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ "CSA confident of seeing off legal challenge to new T20 league". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "CSK, Mumbai Indians interested in buying franchises in South Africa's new T20 league". ESPN Cricinfo. 13 August 2022.
- ^ "South Africa's men's cricket team withdraws from three-match ODI series against Australia in January". ABC News. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "Graeme Smith Named as Commissioner for CSA's New T20 league". Times of Sports. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "Cricket South Africa | GLOBAL CRICKET SUPERSTAR LINED UP FOR SOUTH AFRICA T20 LEAGUE". Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "CSA T20 league: Livingstone and Buttler in top salary bracket as England, SA players hit paydirt". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "IPL franchise owners buy all six teams in South Africa's new T20 league". ESPN Cricinfo.
- ^ Taylor, Compiled by Craig. "Klusener set for head coach role at Durban franchise in Cricket SA's new T20 league". Sport. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ "Faf du Plessis appointed captain of Johannesburg Super Kings in SA20 league; Stephen Fleming named head coach". TimesNow. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ "SA20 League: MI Cape Town appoints Simon Katich as head coach, Hashim Amla as batting coach". India Today. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ Sportstar, Team (15 September 2022). "SA20: JP Duminy named head coach of Paarl Royals". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ "Former Ireland cricket boss Graham Ford named Pretoria Capitals head coach". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ "Birrell, Steyn to coach Sunrisers Eastern Cape". HeraldLIVE. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ Srivatsan, Padmaja (25 July 2022). "CSA T20 League: IPL teams laced Cricket South Africa's T20 League in trouble: Check DETAILS". www.insidesport.in. Retrieved 11 August 2022.