Photo Credit: SA20 League
The six Betway SA20 teams have completed their full squad rosters for the third edition of South Africa’s premier domestic T20 competition that will take place from 9 January to 8 February 2025.
The auction took place at the Westin Hotel in Cape Town with the best local and international talent added to the pre-signed list of players.
Back-to-back champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape completed some shrewd business with the signing of two fast bowlers in the experienced Englishman Richard Gleeson and rising South African star Okuhle Cele.
Bowling coach Dale Steyn believes the key to the Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s success over the past two seasons has been their ability in getting the overseas and local players to come together quickly and play as a collective unit.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of these competitions before. It’s always tough to fly in guys all around the world and try and get the players to gel as fast as you can,” said Steyn.
“And often when you get that right, those teams go on to win tournaments. We will try and do that again, and if we can get that working in our way, because we’ve got some new and exciting players, and we can get them to gel fast, and play their best and relaxed cricket, we can make it three in a row!”
Joburg Super Kings have traditionally placed their focus on experienced players with their squad boasting some of the most capped T20 players in the world such as captain Faf du Plessis and Moeen Ali. Their auction purchases of all-rounders Wihan Lubbe and Evan Jones, who both previously played for the Paarl Royals in the Betway SA20, signified this intent.
After two seasons playing in the pink of Paarl Royals, Wihan Lubbe and Evan Jones will turn out in Joburg Super Kings’ yellow kit in Season 3.
“We have those two guys. And both guys have SA20 experience, which was important for us, so that they’re not new to what’s happening out there,” said batting coach Albie Morkel.
Paarl Royals, meanwhile, have gone in the opposite direction by investing in some of South Africa’s brightest young talents in Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Nqaba Peter.
The youngsters will though be guided by the old hands of skipper David Miller, former England captain Joe Root and India T20 World Cup winner Dinesh Karthik.
“We’re looking at building a sort of core around our younger players, so I think with the younger players, you obviously have to get the right mix, and having somebody like Dinesh, does that for us,” said Paarl Royals strategy coach Richard das Neves.
“I think it’s a big coup for the league as well, having the quality of Dinesh playing in Paarl.
“It’s more around that whole balance of getting the experience with the youth. And I think for somebody like Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who’s a ‘keeper-batter, working with Dinesh for five, six weeks can only benefit South African cricket.”
Pretoria Capitals have not only brought in a new coach Jonathan Trott, who also coaches the Afghanistan national team, but also some of his players in the form of swashbuckling Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The flamboyant opener will be joined by the equally cavalier West Indian top-order batter Evin Lewis and Marques Ackerman along with all-rounder Kyle Simmonds.
South African-born Trott is elated to be back in his homeland and working with all this talent.
“Obviously very excited coming back to Cape Town, auctioning in Cape Town, but also being in Pretoria, having played there as a youngster and played internationally as well,” Trott said.
“It’s a fantastic venue and I think the squad that we’ve got suits playing at Pretoria but also all around the country. So we’re very excited, but obviously there is a lot of work ahead.”
MI Cape Town will once again boast a star-studded squad with England Test captain and double white-ball World Cup winner Ben Stokes the headline act for 2025 alongside Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan and New Zealand’s premier swing bowler Trent Boult.
Proteas top-order batter Reeza Hendricks and Colin Ingram added further class to the MI Cape Town squad after being picked up at the auction.
“All our signings were about getting a little bit of experience into the group. Kind of a bit of leadership ability, so he (Hendricks) certainly adds that,” said MI Cape Town coach Robin Peterson.
“We feel he’s playing pretty well at the moment, getting some runs behind him. We know he likes Cape Town, he likes Newlands. It’s a city that he enjoys playing cricket in, so we just felt it was a perfect fit for where we wanted to go with the squad.”
Last season’s runners-up Durban’s Super Giants needed just one player to complete their roster, and certainly made it count with the addition of West Indies superstar fast bowler Shamar Joseph.
“He’s a very exciting youngster. I saw him a couple of years ago when he won a Test match off the back of his own bowling against Australia, and he was just fantastic. So, looking forward to working with him, he’s a good kid,” said DSG bowling coach Allan Donald.
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Name of Author: SA20 League
SA20, officially known as the Betway SA20 for sponsorship reasons, is a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in South Africa organized by Cricket South Africa (CSA). First held in the 2023 season, the league features six city-based teams. Sunrisers Eastern Cape won the first two editions of the tournament.
