SA20 Auction: Teams Allowed to Retain Up to Six Players Amidst Purse Increase and New RTM Card Introduction

The highly anticipated player auction for the fourth season of the SA20 is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg on September 9th, as announced by the league on Tuesday, June 24th. With a significant 72 slots available across the six teams, franchises will be eager to bolster their squads. The salary purse has been substantially increased to USD 2.3 million for each team, raising the stakes for the upcoming auction.

Prior to the auction, teams are permitted to retain a maximum of six players, or pre-sign players, with a limit of three overseas players among those retentions.

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

Each franchise can include a maximum of seven overseas players in their 18-member squad. At least 11 slots must be reserved for local talent. A "wild card" signing option will also be available to each of the six teams, allowing them to sign either a South African or a foreign cricketer whose league fee will not count towards the salary cap.

The auction will also introduce the Right To Match (RTM) card for the first time in the South African league. This allows a franchise to match the winning bid for a player who played for them in the previous season, thereby retaining his services 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.

Notably, the auction ahead of the fourth season 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.

According to Stephen Cook, Head of Cricket Operations at SA20, "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 as the auctioneer for the fourth season, which is scheduled to begin on Boxing Day, December 26th.