The first edition of the SA20 League is scheduled to take place between January and February 2023, with six teams based on various South African cities competing.
SA20 League Wildcard Players
The six SA20 franchise teams are allowed to sign a wildcard player to their squads ahead of the inaugural season starting January 10, the organisers confirm.
Teams may sign a South African or an overseas player and will have until December 30 to make their selections.
| S. No. | Wild Card Player | Nationality | Team |
| 1 | Jofra Archer | England | MI Cape Town |
| 2 | Jordan Hermann | South Africa | Sunrisers Eastern Cape |
| 3 | Aaron Phangiso | South Africa | Joburg Super Kings |
The official SA20 League Statement reads: “In an exciting introduction, the six SA20 franchise teams will have the opportunity to sign a wild card player to their squads ahead of the inaugural season starting on 10 January. Teams may sign a South African or an overseas player and will have until 30 December to make their selections”.
“Players will come in at a minimum base fee of R175 000, with Franchises using their discretion to select the calibre of players to bolster their squads, which will move from a playing personnel of 17 to 18. Players who were not registered for the auction are eligible for selection”.
In August 2022, Graeme Smith was announced as the commissioner for the tournament. Later the same month, the marquee players of the tournament were announced.
“The wild card offers our teams an opportunity to add another world-class player to their squad,” League Commissioner, Graeme Smith said.
Each squad will be allowed to have a maximum of eight overseas players, and the maximum of four on-field overseas players at any time during the match remains unchanged. The Franchise’s salary cap following the auction will remain outside of the wild card player’s fee.
“The cricket community showed a lot of interest in our League for the auction, I have no doubt we will be seeing six brilliant cricketers joining the SA20,” Graeme Smith ended.
The tournament was founded by Cricket South Africa (CSA) in 2022 through a newly-formed entity named Africa Cricket Development (Pty) Limited (ACD), in which CSA is the majority stakeholder, with 50%, while broadcaster SuperSport has a 30% share and former IPL COO Sundar Raman, the remaining 20%.
