SA20 Season 4: Teams Given Green Light for Six Player Retentions Ahead of Auction

The stage is set for the fourth season of SA20, with teams now permitted to retain a maximum of six players ahead of the highly anticipated auction. The league officially announced that the player auction will take place in Johannesburg on September 9.

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

With a minimum of 72 slots available across the six teams, the upcoming auction promises significant player movement. Adding to the excitement, the salary purse for each team has been substantially increased to USD 2.3 million.

Each franchise has the option to retain up to six players or pre-sign them. However, there's a limitation of no more than three overseas players within those retentions. Teams are allowed to have a maximum of seven overseas players in their 18-member squad, ensuring that at least 11 slots are reserved for local South African talent.

Further enhancing team composition strategies, each of the six teams will have access to a 'wild card player' signing. This allows them to sign either a South African or foreign cricketer, with their league fee excluded from the salary cap.

A notable introduction to this year's auction is the Right To Match (RTM) card. This gives franchises the chance to match the winning bid for a player who was part of their squad in the previous season, enabling them to retain the player for the 2025-26 edition. The number of RTM cards available to each franchise will depend on the number of South African players they have retained.

In a shift from previous seasons, the auction will not include a Rookie Draft. Instead, franchises are now responsible for ensuring they sign a minimum of two Under-23 players as part of their final 19-player squads.

Stephen Cook, Head of Cricket Operations at SA20, commented on the upcoming auction: "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. 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 his role as the auctioneer for the fourth season, which is scheduled to commence on December 26, Boxing Day.