On Friday, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced a new six-team franchise-based T20 competition, which will be played in January next year. The league is set to comprise six privately-owned franchises locking horns with each other in a double round before the top three teams move to the play-off stages. Thirty-three matches will be played over three to four weeks.
Like the Indian Premier League (IPL), the tournament will allow up to four international cricketers to feature in the playing XIs of each team. The date of the auction, fixtures and details will be announced at a later date. The first edition of the competition will be played in January 2023, immediately after South Africa’s tour to Australia. The first month of the year will then become the window for the league.
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Announcing the same, CSA CEO, Pholetsi Moseki said, “We are excited by the formation of something this fresh and invigorating, which also offers the opportunity for private investment into the franchises. CSA has already received interest from a number of potential local and international investors.”
NEW EVENT ALERT 🚨
CSA and @SuperSportTV are proud to announce the formation of a dynamic new T20 competition 😁
6️⃣ privately-owned franchises
🗓️ January 2023Read more 🔗 https://t.co/IowJFF49Ye#BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/LjjrPD4Tp3
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) April 29, 2022
Pholetsi Moseki said that a sustainable business model had been created for both the league and the teams, with a healthy salary bill to attract the very best local and international players.
Marc Jury, the CEO of SuperSport, said: “We are delighted to invest in a product that will change the face of South African cricket. There is an early-year gap in the calendar, so the timing is ideal.” SuperSport’s support for the league is crucial to getting it going, as they are CSA’s domestic broadcast partner. Without their buy-in, CSA was unable to launch the Global T20 League in 2017 and was forced to shelve plans for a franchise T20 competition.
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A new company formed by CSA and broadcaster SuperSport will manage the tournament. The league is also actively looking at the possibility of a women’s T20 event to coincide in the coming years.
