SA20 Teams Granted Six Retentions Ahead of Player Auction

The fourth season of the SA20 is gearing up with significant changes to the player acquisition process. The league announced on Tuesday, June 24, that the player auction will be held in Johannesburg on September 9.

All the franchises will see an increase in the purse to USD 2.3 million © Sportzpics

A key highlight is the substantial increase in the salary purse to USD 2.3 million for each team. This will allow franchises to bid for top talent as they fill a minimum of 72 available slots across the six teams.

Retention Rules

Ahead of the auction, franchises are permitted to retain a maximum of six players, or pre-sign them. This list must contain no more than three overseas players. Each team's final squad can include a maximum of seven international players, but they must have at least 11 local players.

Wild Card and Right to Match

The upcoming season also introduces a 'wild card' signing option for each of the six teams. This allows teams to sign either a South African or foreign player, and that player’s fee will fall outside of the salary cap.

Another new feature is the Right To Match (RTM) card. Franchises can use this card to match the winning auction bid for a player who played for that team in the previous season. The number of RTM cards available to each franchise will depend on the number of South African players they have retained.

Rookie Draft Update

Unlike previous seasons, the fourth season auction will not include a Rookie Draft. Instead, franchises will be responsible for signing a minimum of two Under-23 players in their final 19-player squads.

What They Are Saying

"The SA20 Season 4 Player Auction is setting up to be the most exciting yet, with about 60% of player slots available for the franchises to fill," said Stephen Cook, Head of Cricket Operations at SA20. "Mechanisms such as RTM cards, Wildcard players and an increased salary cap are sure to create interesting situations for teams and will allow them to strategically select their squads. We have seen some life-changing transactions already in the past few years and the upcoming auction should see plenty more."

Richard Madley will continue to serve as the auctioneer for the fourth season. The season is scheduled to begin on December 26, Boxing Day.