Thriving SA20 giving domestic cricket a boost, says Smith

T20 franchise cricket has changed the life of more than one cricketer and the Indian Premier League (IPL), who held their mega auction last week, have done that more than most.

But Betway SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith wants SA’s franchise T20 tournament to do that and revitalise the game in the country he captained with such distinction.

The IPL is the benchmark all other leagues aspire to, and their auction saw record prices being paid for the next tournament being held from March 14 2025, with the 10 franchises spending more than £60m (R1.37bn) overall.

Smith wants the SA20 to continue growing in stature such that it is considered to be part of the top group of T20 tournaments, and that so many South Africans and overseas players who feature in the SA20 are being picked up by the IPL as well bodes well for the stature of the January-February competition.

Proteas stars Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen (the most expensive overseas player), Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortjé, Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee, David Miller, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis and Lungi Ngidi have all been signed up by the IPL, as well as lesser-known players such as Lizaad Williams, Kwena Maphaka, Matthew Breetzke, Donovan Ferreira, Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs, who have shone in the SA20 and attracted the attention of the Indian franchise owners, who all have teams in the IPL too.

Among the highest-paid overseas stars who were bought at the IPL auction are Josh Buttler, Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, Noor Ahmad and Rashid Khan, who have all featured regularly in the SA20.

“From an SA20 perspective, it’s lovely to see the platform provided by our tournament to these players and there are a significant number of SA players in the top money-earners list,” Smith told sportsboom.com in an exclusive interview.

“Last year we produced the most players going to the IPL of all the overseas countries, and that shows the growth of our franchise cricket.

“And that includes a few youngsters — those are the good stories of people’s lives being changed, like Kwena Maphaka going to Rajasthan Royals for £142,000 [R3.2m].”

“So, the exposure from the SA20 is very important but we also hope the tournament keeps the Proteas strong.

“They haven’t had a great period in T20 cricket since making the World Cup final, but the IPL auction and the SA20 tournament show that there is still some incredible talent there. 

“There is a lot of franchise cricket played around the world, and we want to elevate SA20 so that it is one of the No 1 picks.

“There is like a Tier One of these T20 franchise tournaments, and we certainly want to be up there. I think we are establishing ourselves as one of the Tier One events. 

“The feedback from the overseas players has been incredible. They love coming to SA because of the crowds, they say the tournament is well-run and, most importantly, they say it provides extremely competitive cricket.

“Two years into the event, there is much higher confidence that we can pull it off and we hope it just keeps developing,” Smith said.

Smith has high hopes the SA20 will also keep developing SA domestic talent into world-beating international stars.

Never mind being able to get them on the phone, the likes of Tristan Luus, an SA U19 all-rounder, can sit in the Mumbai Indians changeroom and chat face-to-face with Ben Stokes about the game.

Likewise Breetzke, who has just set off on his international career, will be chewing the ear off of fellow top-order batsman Kane Williamson in the Durban Super Giants locker room.

“With our rookie draft and our introduction of the SA20 Schools competition, we’re going to expose a lot of youngsters.

“Plus the franchises are unbelievable when it comes to their attention to their pipeline and talent. They bring great expertise in terms of the support staff. 

“Maybe before SA20, our players were not developing in the right way, they were becoming fully professional late in the day and you were still trying to educate them at a national team level. But playing against the best shows you where you need to improve and what it takes to play at that level. 

“They can sit and chat with a Ben Stokes or a Kane Williamson, and you’ll have international physios telling them that these are the levels they need to reach physically,” Smith said.

The bottom line is always commercial, however, and the SA20 continues to be the second-biggest money-spinner for Cricket SA after the Proteas men.

That has enabled things such as the SA20 Schools competition, an annual camp for U19 girls and an umpire exchange with The Hundred in England, to be introduced.

SportsBoom