SA20: Reeza Hendricks the big winner at latest player auction

Proteas opener Reeza Hendricks was the big winner at the third SA20 player auction held in Cape Town on Tuesday.

The current SA T20 cricketer of the year was bought by MI Cape Town for a whopping R4.3 million.

The league received 580 applications for the remaining 13 slots, along with six rookie drafts.

Big spenders

Hendricks, who previously played for Joburg Super Kings, was the central focus of a bidding war between MI Cape Town and Pretoria Capitals, with the Newlands-based team eventually winning the race.

MI Cape Town also signed up a further top-order batter in former Protea, Colin Ingram (R175,000), and brought born-and-bred Capetonian Dane Piedt (R175,000) back to Newlands.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who have won the first two editions of the competition, added fast bowler Okuhle Cele to their squad for R175,000, while England’s Richard Gleeson also got snapped up by the Gqeberha-based team, for R2.3 million. Gleeson played for Durban’s Super Giants last season, but will now call St George’s Park home.

The Pretoria Capitals under new coach Jonathan Trott went in search of top-order batters and bought both West Indies opener Evin Lewis (R1.5 million) and Marques Ackerman (R800,00) along with all-rounder, Kyle Simmons (R175,000), to Centurion.

Durban’s Super Giants recently added Proteas fast bowling legend Allan Donald to their coaching staff, and his influence was immediately evident with last season’s runners-up signing up West Indies fast bowling sensation Shamar Joseph (R425,000).

Joburg Super Giants, meanwhile, recruited Wihan Lubbe and Evan Jones for their base prices of R175,000, while wicket-keeper batter Rubin Hermann (R175,000) was Paarl Royals’ sole pick on the night.

Rookies

The Rookie segment was back again and once again attracted plenty of attention with Tristan Luus (MI Cape Town) and Dewan Marais (Paarl Royals), who both played in the ICC U19 Men’s World Cup earlier this year, being drafted at the auction.

The third season of the competition will start with a match between defending champions, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, and MI Cape Town at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on 9 January 2025.

Full List of SA20 auction buys

MI Cape Town: Reeza Hendricks (R4.3m), Colin Ingram (R175 000); Dane Piedt (R175 000) Tristan Luus (Rookie)

Pretoria Capitals: Evin Lewis (R1.5m), Marques Ackerman (R800 000), Kyle Simmons (R175 000), Keegan-Lion Cache (Rookie)

Paarl Royals: Rubin Hermann (R175 000) Dewan Marais (Rookie)

Joburg Super Kings: Wihan Lubbe (R175 000), Evan Jones (R175 000) Doug Bracewell (R175 000), JP King (Rookie)

Sunrisers Eastern Cape: Okuhle Cele (R175 000), Richard Gleeson (R2.3m), Daniel Smith (Rookie)

Durban’s Super Giants: Shamar Joseph (R425 000), CJ King (Rookie)