“This is another sign of SA20’s ambition to have a positive impact on South African cricket,” said League Commissioner Graeme Smith.
The first season of the South African SA20 League features a total prize pool of R70 million (over US$4 million). This is, according to a CSA Media statement, “the largest prize pool in the history of South African franchise cricket”.
His SA20 Commissioner Graeme Smith said: This is a first for South African cricket and has never done this kind of competitive stimulus in domestic cricket, further demonstrating his SA20 ambition to have a positive impact on South African cricket. ”
The tournament will run from January 10 – with MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals facing off at Newlands in Cape Town in the first game – to February 11, when the final will be played at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. A total of 33 matches – two round-robin leagues, two semi-finals, and the final – will be played in just over a month across South Africa.
The six teams in the fray are all owned by groups that own teams in the IPL:
MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals share owners with Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals respectively, while the others are Johannesburg Super Kings (Chennai Super Kings), Pretoria Capitals (Delhi Capitals), Durban’s Super Giants (Lucknow Super Giants) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape (Sunrisers Hyderabad).
Smith has in the past indicated that he hoped the SA20 would do for South African cricket what the IPL has done for Indian cricket in terms of unearthing a pool of players.
“I think what we want to create in this league is that there’s so much talent – hope we can develop that talent to play under pressure on a global stage,” he had said at an event in Mumbai earlier this month. “I know I talk about the IPL all the time, but look at how many strong cricketers have won the IPL.
“I hope to see 25 to 35 players in the next few years at a level where trying to find 15 players makes the work of selectors very difficult. Those who are are exposed to the big game, and unfortunately South Africa always have to grapple with these issues before they can actually win a (global) tournament.”