New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) Former Proteas all-rounder Chris Morris has shared his thoughts on SA20 season 4 player auction, scheduled for September 9, and said young pacer Kwena Maphaka could spark intense bidding wars while also singling out Aiden Markram as one of the headline acts.
The 19-year-old Maphaka announced himself with a career-best fiery spell of 4-20 against Australia in the first T20I on Sunday. His four-wicket haul saw him become the youngest bowler from full member cricket nations to take four wickets in a T20I match, surpassing the record of Wayne Parnell, who was 19 years and 318 days old when he claimed a four-fer against the West Indies in 2009.
“I think Kwena Maphaka is going to be at the centre of a bidding frenzy. Dewald Brevis is another, given he hasn’t been retained. Rassie van der Dussen, with his experience, could also be in demand,” Morris said to SuperSport.
“Personally, I always look out for the player who ends up going for a surprisingly high price — the buy of the tournament that no one saw coming. For me, Delano Potgieter could be that player. He’s been successful in SA20, has done well for MI Cape Town, and is a proven performer in domestic cricket. He covers multiple roles and adds great balance to a squad — the kind of player I’d sign straight away,”
Markram, under whose captaincy Sunrisers won two successive titles in 2023 and 2024, has decided against being retained by two-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape, opting to head to the auction instead ahead of the upcoming SA20 season. Sunrisers, however, will have the option to use the right-to-match-card in case they want to buy Markram back.
“Sunrisers haven’t retained him, but they do have a right-to-match card, meaning they can match the final bid for him and retain his services. That opens the door for mind games — other teams could bid aggressively to push his price high enough to make it difficult for the Sunrisers to bring him back,” said Markram.
“Two teams stand out to me: MI Cape Town, which would solve their captaincy question — not that Rashid Khan is doing a bad job — but having a successful local international captain at number four would be a big boost, especially since they’ve released Rassie van der Dussen, leaving a vacancy at number three.
“The other is Pretoria Capitals, who have one of the largest remaining purses. He’s a local player, would fill their captaincy role, slot in at number three, and bring strong leadership after Rilee Rossouw’s stint last year. Either way, Aiden Markram is going to be hot property,” he added.
The six franchises will have a maximum of R131 million to spend on the 84 slots available to complete their respective 19-player squads, making it the biggest Betway SA20 auction since the inaugural edition in 2022. The deadline for player registrations, both local and overseas is set for August 18.
“The auction is always exciting, no matter the tournament, but SA20 is the big one, with most of the players back in the pool. There have been a lot of retentions and several wild cards picked up, so it will be interesting to see how the teams go about building their squads.
“Some teams have plenty of money to spend, while others have already filled half their squads and don’t have much left in the purse. This means a lot of domestic players will be putting their hands up this season, and they’re likely to get opportunities because of the financial dynamics at play.
“I’ve already started my homework, looking at the teams, the squads, and who’s available, and I have a few ideas of where players might land. It’s a great time of the year, and SA20 is going to be even bigger this season,” said Morris.
–IANS
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