graeme smith
Images of Grant Pitcher/Gallo
Two days after the end of a humiliating test tour of Australia by South Africa, a new Twenty20 league, the SA20, will launch in Cape Town on Tuesday.
South Africa were outclassed in Australia, heavily beaten in the first two matches before escaping to a draw in a rain-hit third match.
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The Test struggles followed South Africa’s embarrassing exit from the T20 World Cup in November when they lost to the Netherlands in a must-win game.
“We want to play our part in reviving (South African) cricket,” SA20 commissioner and former Test captain Graeme Smith said. “We want people to go into the stadium and cheer again.”
Organizers said online tickets for Tuesday’s opening match between MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals had sold out.
All six of the league’s franchises have been bought by Indian Premier League team owners. The fighters in the opening match are descendants of the Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals.
The Cape Town team will be led by Afghan player Rashid Khan and includes English trio Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone and Jofra Archer, who returns to competitive cricket after picking up an injury.
England white ball captain Jos Buttler, who led his country to victory in the T20 World Cup, is the star signing from Paarl Royals, who will be captained by South African batsman David Miller.
Other key players for the Royals include former England captain Eoin Morgan and starter Jason Roy.
Buttler has hailed the SA20 as “a really important moment in South African cricket history”.
Although there are a large number of players from England and the West Indies, there are none from India, Pakistan or Australia.
Despite the Indian ownership of the teams, the Indian board bans its players from foreign leagues.
The SA20 collides with the Big Bash in Australia and a new tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
The tournament, which ends on February 11, takes place during what has traditionally been a major part of the local international season.
He missed a one-day international series in Australia to ensure the availability of top local players for the SA20, putting South Africa’s hopes of automatic qualification for this year’s World Cup in jeopardy.
Cricket South Africa has chosen to reduce its international commitments, especially the Tests, with most series over the next four years consisting of just two matches.
Chief executive Pholetsi Moseki said when the latest future tour schedule was unveiled: “You could say the schedule is light, but it was intentional on our end. We needed to make room for our new T20 competition.”
An illustration of the focus on T20 at the expense of longer format cricket is that two of the SA20 captains, Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock, left Test cricket to concentrate on the white ball game.
The multi-talented Dwaine Pretorius announced on Monday that he would leave international cricket to concentrate on the over-20 game.
Two of the highest paid young South African players in the league are Tristan Stubbs, who has only played in eight first-class matches, and Dewald Brevis, who has yet to make his first-class debut.
The SA20 have followed the IPL by denying accreditation to photographers other than those working for a league-appointed agency.
Smith said the league was following what he described as “worldwide best practice” to ensure product ownership.
Television rights have been bought by Viacom18 in India and Sky Sports in Great Britain.
The SA20 is South Africa’s third attempt to establish a viable T20 league.
Unlike the previous two, the SA20 has a title sponsor and television partner in SuperSport, Africa’s largest sports broadcaster.
