New Delhi, Aug 18 SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith insists the league has already carved out its place as the premier competition outside the IPL, despite rival tournaments like the BBL pushing for the same recognition.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo ahead of the close of player registrations for this year’s auction, Smith said: “In the southern hemisphere window we want to dominate and we want to be the biggest league outside the IPL. Three years in, we've set the standard. Every decision we make is around making sure that we uphold those standards.”
The SA20 enters its fourth season on Boxing Day with all six franchises owned by IPL stakeholders and boasting the second-highest salary cap in world cricket at R41 million (US$2.31m). That figure, Smith believes, underlines the league’s claim to be the “next-best” after the IPL. A marquee auction is scheduled for September 9 in Johannesburg, with player registration closing on August 18.
Smith’s remarks come less than two weeks after Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg told SEN Radio that the BBL would “unashamedly” pursue second place in the global pecking order by exploring privatisation.
“It’s going to be very hard to chase the IPL, given the scale of cricket in India,” Greenberg said, “but unashamedly, we want to run a league that comes second… and to do that you need money, you need investment.”
With the BBL running in the same January window, questions over player availability loom large. Yet Smith remains confident. While Australia’s Test stars are rarely free for the BBL, South Africa’s international and domestic players will prioritise the SA20 even at the expense of national duty — as seen last year when an understrength side toured New Zealand while the main squad remained home.
That move drew criticism at the time, but Smith said the World Test Championship victory proved formats can co-exist: “Everyone was worried that we were going to destroy Test cricket but we’ve seen our national team go on to win the World Test Championship final. We’ve all played our role in the ecosystem.”
The SA20 has also benefited from international star power, particularly England’s white-ball cricketers, though the upcoming Ashes may limit availability this season.
Jos Buttler has already been pre-signed by Durban’s Super Giants, but Smith expects a lively auction with only 13 of 36 available slots filled by South African players. “I expected a lot more top South African players to pre-sign and that didn’t happen,” he said. “From our perspective it’s set up a very exciting auction with a very big purse.”
Smith also revealed ongoing work with Cricket South Africa to improve stadium facilities and pitches ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup. “The pitches last year didn’t play as well as we would have liked… everything is a big work in progress behind the scenes,” he said.
The fourth season of the SA20 will run over the festive period, with no home Tests scheduled for South Africa this summer.
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