It’s the milestone season of the SA20, and Graeme Smith, the proud League Commissioner, is glad that they have established themselves at the “heart of summer” when asked about the league finding its own space in a crowded cricketing calendar.
While trying to secure an independent window without disrupting the availability of South African stars for international cricket during that period, Smith acknowledged that a few tough decisions had to be made, especially in the early stages. However, despite the crammed calendar, SA20‘s growth is visible. With three teams coming to South Africa’s shores in this home season, the league will have full player availability, fitting neatly into the January-February window.
“I think in the beginning, credit to Cricket South Africa for one or two tough decisions that they had to make in cancelling the initial ODI series in Australia, which allowed a window in an already busy FTP calendar to be filled,”_ Smith said in an exclusive post-auction media interaction. _”There’s a nice balance now, especially if you look at a year like this, where you’ve got Australia, Bangladesh and England for international series.
“I really like to believe that we’ve become the league of choice, certainly in the Southern Hemisphere window. So, I think we have certainly established ourselves coming into Season 5,”_ he added. It was a short and sharp auction, with just 19 slots to be filled and a total of $2.10 million available. An 18-year-old, fresh out of school, ended up walking away with the biggest paycheque of $175k approx. Smith lauded the work behind the scenes by the scouting teams and coaches in identifying talent and ability, regardless of age.
“The fact that the coaching, the work that goes in behind the scenes to select these players and understand what they’re capable of, that work is exciting. We invest heavily in the schools program and our franchises, and the coaches recognising the youth is exciting,”_ Smith added. Going into the fifth season, SA20 has ambitions of being the second-best league in the world, and it has done no harm to those ambitions, becoming the first choice of cricket fans in the country during that January-February period. SA20 has been able to bring in humongous crowds, make fans part of the action and provide the next generation of South African cricketers with a platform to showcase their talent.
But it wasn’t an easy task, and Smith knew that for everyone to put their heart and soul into the league and commit to it for the long haul, they needed to get _”a couple of key fundamentals up front right.” “Cricket South Africa took the decision to build outside and brought in a big broadcaster as a shareholder, which really helped give us the base to build the business model of the league and go to market,” Smith added, reiterating the value of the six IPL franchises beyond the money on the table.
“We were fortunate to have met over 40 different potential investors at the time. But I think getting the six IPL franchises in the end that we do have, has provided a real big base for us to be able to build the league. The way they invest in players, the quality that they bring, the way they look after the players and the teams as well, I think it’s brought a real professionalism to our game,”_ he further added.
With Joburg Super Kings and MI Cape Town strengthening their squads at the auction, Sunrisers Eastern Cape targeting a fourth title, and the likes of Paarl Royals, Pretoria Capitals and Durban’s Super Giants aiming to get past the Qualifier hurdle, Season 5 of SA20 promises to be the biggest and the fiercest yet.
