SA20 auction to feature 541 players, including James Anderson: Details
What's the story
The SA20 2026 auction is set to feature a whopping 541 players, including former England pacer James Anderson. The auction will be held on September 9. Notably, Anderson is one of the 97 English players in the pool, which also includes Moeen Ali and Alex Hales. Earlier this year, Anderson recently returned to T20 cricket after over a decade. He is now set to potentially participate in the SA20 league.
Anderson
Anderson's return to T20 cricket
In 2024, Anderson retired as the pacer with most wickets across formats. With 991 scalps, the legendary speedster is only behind Muthiah Muralidaran (1,347) and Shane Warne (1,001). Anderson, who returned to T20 cricket after 11 years, played his Men's Hundred opener aged 43 years and 7 days. The former England fast bowler also featured for Lancashire in the T20 Blast.
Global representation
Notable names from other countries
The auction pool also has 14 Bangladeshi players, including all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and pacer Mustafizur Rahman. From Australia, only D'Arcy Short and Peter Hatzoglou are part of the list due to a clash with the Big Bash League (BBL). As many as 28 West Indies players and 24 from Sri Lanka are also part of the auction. As per ESPNcricinfo, Dipendra Singh Airee is the only Nepali player in this trimmed auction pool.
Local talent
A look at notable South African players
Aiden Markram, who earlier parted ways with Sunrisers Eastern Cape, leads the 300 South African players in the auction. Other notable names include Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Gerald Coetzee. A total of 241 overseas players will compete for up to 25 slots. Meanwhile, 300 South Africans will fight for the remaining 59 spots.
Auction dynamics
Team-wise purse and squad composition
As per ESPNcricinfo, Pretoria Capitals head into the SA20 auction with the biggest purse of R32.5 million (approximately $1.86 million). They have 13 slots to fill (5 overseas). MI Cape Town have the smallest purse at R11.5 million (approximately $0.65 million) and 12 slots to fill including four for overseas players. Each team should have at least two Under-23 players in their squads of 19 members each.