SA20 auction provides added element for SA fans to get excited about

The tension in the hall at the Galleria events venue in Sandton this week was palpable. 

There was an audible gasp when Aiden Markram’s name was read out as the next player to be drafted for season 4 of the SA20. People in the hall knew what was coming. 

By the time bids for Markram had passed R10m, some in the audience were laughing, others had their mouths agape in shock. 

This was the kind of pseudo-tension the organisers were after. Big money, animated reaction and social media ablaze. 

“At various times today, we were trending in India with what was happening at the auction,” said the SA20’s commissioner, Graeme Smith. 

Garnering India’s attention is the primary reason Smith is so comfortable with the status of the tournament despite growth for other leagues in England and Australia. 

“In terms of delivery, performance and competitive cricket, I think we are progressing in the right direction,” said Smith.

For South African cricket supporters Tuesday’s six-hour auction would have been exciting — but also tiring. Dale Steyn, on the global broadcast to describe how the events were unfolding, looked exhausted as he went through the last few names to be drafted. 

Certainly the kind of fans the SA20 has done so well to attract since its inception would have had little interest in Markram going to Durban Super Giants for R14m or Dewald Brevis heading to Pretoria Capitals for R16.5m. 

That’s because unlike the IPL, the player auction for the SA20, isn’t a big deal — for South Africans. It’s a cultural thing. Americans get very worked up about ‘draft day’ in the NFL and NBA when college players are chosen by professional teams, often with eye-watering figures being paid. Hollywood has made movies about the topic. 

India’s fervour for cricket means anything associated with the sport is hugely appealing. Such are the business activities which surround the auction, that the last two IPL drafts have taken place in Dubai and Jeddah.

South African sports fans aren’t as invested, because for them movement of players is more about how they’ll fit into whatever side they support, rather than the amounts involved. Football fans are more inclined to follow this kind of topic, because the ‘transfer window’ has become such an intrinsic part of covering that sport in the last three decades. 

Kaizer Chiefs signing Lebohang Maboe and Khanyisa Mayo was important for football supporters, particularly the Amakhosi, who are desperate to become relevant again in a PSL title race.     

Siya Kolisi moving from Western Province to France and then to the Sharks, along with similar moves for Eben Etzebeth and the Bulls signing old veterans is intriguing because of how rugby’s business model is evolving in the professional age. 

Cricket in the country, until the SA20, hasn’t had that. As mind-boggling as the figures were at this week’s draft, it isn’t until December, when the tournament starts, that South Africans will truly start to absorb — or even be interested in — what effect they may have on the team they support. 

However, perhaps more importantly than the numbers the auction attracted on social media in India, is the message it sent to other nations and leagues being played under the auspices of those cricket associations. The figure for Brevis — which translates to $945,000 — certainly sent shivers down the spines of Cricket Australia (CA) officials. 

That figure is nearly half the entire salary cap — about $1.98m — that is available to each of the teams in its Big Bash T20 League. 

CA is reportedly looking at potential private investment for the Big Bash, which is played at the same time as the SA20. However, while CSA has stipulated that all of the nationally contracted players are available for the SA20, the Big Bash takes place while major series like last season’s clash with India and this summer’s Ashes are on the go. 

Smith and the rest of the League’s organisers hope the season 4 auction will create hype for a different aspect of the SA20 and draw additional attention from the new audience the League has already drawn in.

“Certainly in season 3 when I was walking around stadiums, I noticed the number of new people that are coming to watch cricket is one of the greatest things. We need to grow the game in this country, we need more people coming to stadiums and watching on TV.”

“We know that to be globally successful, you have to be successful in your own country,” said Smith.