SA20 Season 5 auction: 4 teams to spend USD 2.1M on 19 players

The player auction for SA20 season five is set, with four franchises having a combined USD 2.10 million to fill 19 slots. Joburg Super Kings leads with the biggest purse of USD 1.245 million. The auction will be streamed live on YouTube.

Auction Purses and Squad Gaps

The player auction for season five of the SA20 will bring plenty of thrill, hype and buzz on Wednesday, with four franchises left to spend USD 2.10 million on 19 available slots to complete their squads. Durban's Super Giants and Paarl Royals have already finished their business after the salary cap was increased to USD 2.54 million for Season 5.

Joburg Super Kings coach Albie Morkel has the biggest purse, at USD 1.245 million. MI Cape Town, under Robin Peterson, have USD 565,150. Adrian Birrell's three-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape, have USD 217,600, and last season's runners-up Pretoria Capitals, with Shaun Pollock at the table, have USD 89,150. The auction will also be streamed on the SA20 YouTube Channel (https://sa20.mobi/S5Auction-LiveStream) with rolling updates and information on all official social media channels, as per a press release.

Player Experiences and Perspectives

South African presenter and experienced auctioneer Dan Nicholl will hold the gavel for the first time and lead proceedings. Former Proteas cricketers Chris Morris and Neil McKenzie will also be on hand to give their expert analysis as the action unfolds.

Five years of the SA20 auction have been eventful. To date, the total available spend on players across the five seasons sits at a staggering USD 70.75 million. From the league's first record-breaking signing in 2022 to thrilling bidding wars and life-changing opportunities, every auction has made an impact.

“I was very young, I was 20-something,” Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s captain, Tristan Stubbs, said, looking back. “I remember watching the Auction with my digs mates. We were jumping up and down. We could not believe what just happened. No one really expected it. I did not expect it. It was quite overwhelming.”

Dewald Brevis eclipsed Stubbs' record-breaking price when he was bought by the Pretoria Capitals for the eye-catching amount of R 16.5m at the Season 4 auction. In typical Brevis fashion, he used it as motivation to drive the Capitals to the final last season.

“Obviously, there are people who refer to the price tag, but for me I just remain Dewald and keep playing the game,” said Brevis. "I know why I play cricket, and I am grateful for how the auction went, getting to represent my home team in Pretoria. We had an amazing time, and I really enjoyed it."

Capitals’ captain, Keshav Maharaj, says the fear of the unknown is what makes the auction all the more exciting. “Going into the Auction, it is a fear of the unknown. Once again, regardless of who you are, I think there is always an element of where, price, if I am going to get picked first of all,” Maharaj said. “But throughout my career, I have always wanted an opportunity to play outside of Durban. It has been a wonderful opportunity to experience that and experience a different culture towards cricket, which I would say was pretty phenomenal and second to none.”

For Matthew Breetzke, the Auction was a contrasting experience. Durban’s Super Giants picked up the precocious talent for his base price of 10,576 USD at the maiden Auction. Three seasons later, Breetzke was a more mature cricketer who understood his game much better, and could head home to Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Season 4 for $368,000.

“I think the opportunity that the Durban’s Super Giants gave me was something that catapulted my career,” Breetzke said. “During the Season 4 Auction, I was actually coming off a flight from I don’t know where and landed before I put my phone on and got all the messages that I was going back home.

“It was an incredibly special feeling for not only myself, but my family. The price tag was lovely, but just to be home and knowing I was going to be with the likes of Stubbo, (Marco) Jansen, and all these guys that I've played with in the past was really special.”

Key Auction Rules and Broadcast Information

Joburg Super Kings and MI Cape Town must each sign one Under-23 player from the 48 on the final shortlist. The Super Kings also still have a Wildcard slot available.

Outside of Sub-Saharan Africa, fans can also tune into the action on JioStar in India (20h30 IST), Sky Sports in the UK (16h00 BST), Apex in Pakistan (19h30 PKT), Fox Sports in Australia (23h00 AEDT) and Willow TV in North America (11h00 ET).

-The Auction proceedings will run as follows: *Marquee Mixed Set Rounds *Nomination Express Round (Teams call up the player that they want to bid on) *There will be no Right to Match (RTM) cards available to the four participating teams at the Season 5 Auction.

-Season 5 squad requirements Every team must have 19 players in its registered squad: *18 squad players (max 7 overseas, min 11 SA - of which 2 must be SA U23) *One wildcard (overseas or South African, and not part of the salary cap)

Post-Auction Press Conference

Post-Auction Press Conference SA20 League Commissioner, Graeme Smith, together with the four participating coaches Albie Morkel (Joburg Super Kings), Robin Peterson (MI Cape Town), Shaun Pollock (Pretoria Capitals) and Adrian Birrell (Sunrisers Eastern Cape) will be available for an online press conference on Thursday, 8 October at 09h00 SAST. Further details will be shared closer to the time. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)