By Kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Photo Credit: Sportzpics.
Four Betway SA20 franchises will have R35.025 million available to complete their squads when the Season 5 Player Auction takes place on Wednesday, with 19 player slots still up for grabs.
The auction begins at 17:00 South African time and will be broadcast live on SuperSport, with international viewers also able to follow the action across major cricket platforms.
Pretoria Capitals, Joburg Super Kings, MI Cape Town and Sunrisers Eastern Cape will be involved in the auction, while Durban’s Super Giants and Paarl Royals have already completed their squads.
The league increased the Season 5 salary cap to R42 million, setting the scene for another potentially significant night of spending.
The auction has become a defining part of the SA20 calendar, with more than R1.17 billion spent on players across the first five editions.
Last season produced the league’s biggest purchase to date when Pretoria Capitals paid R16.5 million for Dewald Brevis. The South African batter responded by helping the Capitals reach the final.
“Obviously, there are people that refer to the price tag, but for me I just remain Dewald and keep playing the game,” Brevis said.
The previous record was held by Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain Tristan Stubbs, who still remembers the disbelief surrounding his own auction experience.
“I remember watching the Auction with my digs mates. We were jumping up and down. We couldn’t believe what just happened,” Stubbs said.
The auction has also proved a major platform for emerging talent. Matthew Breetzke was signed by Durban’s Super Giants for his R175,000 base price at the inaugural auction before moving to Sunrisers Eastern Cape for R6.1 million three seasons later.
“The opportunity that the Durban Super Giants gave me was something that catapulted my career,” Breetzke said.
For established players, the uncertainty remains just as intense. “Going into the Auction, it’s a fear of the unknown,” Pretoria Capitals captain Keshav Maharaj said. “Regardless of who you are, I think there’s always an element of where, price, if I’m going to get picked first of all.”
South African auctioneer Dan Nicholl will conduct the event for the first time, with former Proteas Chris Morris and Neil McKenzie providing expert analysis.
With 19 slots remaining and more than R35 million to spend, the focus will be on which franchises make the biggest moves and whether another record signing emerges on auction night.
There were 789 applications during the registration period, with the final Player Auction shortlisted to 156 cricketers, made up of 95 South Africans and 61 overseas hopefuls.
Faf Du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Imran Tahir and Rassie van der Dussen are among the biggest South African names in the auction.
Among the overseas contingent, Kieron Pollard and Trent Boult , both having played exclusively for MI Cape Town so far, have listed their base price at R1.5 million, the highest out of a shortlist of 156 players.
A veteran of the IPL and CPL, Shimron Hetmyer is poised to take part in the SA20 for the first time having put his name up for bidding. He will be joined by his West Indies team-mate and another SA20 rookie, Shamar Joseph, who has played 27 games of franchise cricket.
The fifth season of the SA20 kicks off on January 17. Sunrisers Eastern Cape will begin as defending champions after winning their third title in the previous season.