A total of 89 young players have entered the SA20 Rookie Draft for the third season of the league, to be played in 2025. It includes the likes of South Africa U-19 fast bowler Tristan Luus, Western Province all-rounder Abdallah Bayoumy, North West wicket-keeper batter Meeka-eel Prince, South Africa U-19 captain Juan James and SA Emerging XI batter Dewan Marais.
Of the 89, only six spots are to be filled by the six franchises in the SA20. The draft will take place on 1 October in Cape Town.
Five of the six Rookies selected in the last auction, in addition to a further two replacement Rookies, have been incorporated in the list of retained players by their respective teams for the third edition of the tournament.
SA20 Head of Cricket Operations, Stephen Cook, says the League remains committed to exposing South Africa’s young talent to a high-quality international standard competition where they can learn from some of the world’s leading T20 coaches, players, and optimal team environments.
“The Rookie player was an overwhelming success story from Season 2, with many great stories coming from it,” he said. “Seeing young players getting opportunities to be exposed to some of the best players and coaches in the world is very encouraging and bodes well for the development of the South African player pipeline.”
Who is a Rookie?
A Rookie is a South African player aged 22 or under on the day of the auction that has not been contracted to SA20 before. All six teams are mandated to select a player from the Rookie draft.
A player meeting the definition of a Rookie can be bought in the regular auction stage, but if not chosen in the regular auction, will then be eligible for the Rookie draft which will take place at the end of the regular auction.
Each team will have two minutes to make their choice and will be ‘on the clock’ to stick within the parameters.
Each Rookie player has a set value of R75 000, which will be deducted from the team’s available salary cap prior to the auction to make sure there is absolute clarity at all stages of the Player Auction as to how much purse is remaining and ensure that the Rookie Fee is sufficiently catered for by each Franchise.
Teams will make their selections in the following order:
1. MI Cape Town
2. Pretoria Capitals
3. Paarl Royals
4. Joburg Super Kings
5. Durban’s Super Giants
6. Sunrisers Eastern Cape
When is the SA20 Auction?
The Rookie draft (and SA20 Auction) will take place in Cape Town on Tuesday, 1 October at 1615 SAST (1945 IST/1445 GMT/1015 EST).
The auction will be broadcast live on SuperSport (Sub-Saharan Africa), Viacom (India) and Sky Sports (UK).
Who are the players in the Rookie Draft?
Romashan Pillay
Jordan Phillip (JP) King
Zaid Patel
Abdallah Bayoumy
Bongile Mfunelwa
Joshua Vorster
Tristan Luus
Uwais Mahomed
Ludwich Schuld
Juan James
Safwaan Sujee
Zedan Mahomed
Suhail Patel
Jithen Lalbadhur
Haydar Shah Khan
Yahya Bhabha
Khaif Patel
Siya Mdlankomo
Liam Alder
Daniel Smith
Meeka-eel Prince
Tiaan Brits
Liam Jansen
Kylo Le Roux
Michael Copeland
Valentine Kitime
Aarsh Patel
Suleman Bhamji
Chad Laycock
Ntando Zuma
Gysbert Wege
Christopher Jayden King
Reuben du Toit
Dewan Marais
Keegan Crawford
Muhammad Manack
Nathan Steyn
Slade Van Staden
Ethan-John Cunningham
Aldre Huyzers
Ross Coetzee
Ntando Soni
Bayanda Majola
Zack Momberg
Yivani Jayiya
Muhammad Gani
Christiaan Oberholzer
Richard Williams
Tyler Williams
George van Heerden
Breidyn Schaper
Richard Seletswane
Neil Timmers
Benjamin Hansen
Gerhardus Maree
Esa Gangat
Aphiwe Mnyanda
Khaya Fakude
Kyle Christie
Schalk Engelbrecht
Oliver Whitehead
Brayden Hicks
Lethabo Phahlamohlaka
David Teeger
Nico Van Der Westhuizen
Arnav Jaggeth
Conrad Mouton
Ross Boast
Keagan Lion-Cachet
Nayleo Sanna
Christian Sabea
Rivan Stoman
Byron Daniels
Jordan Le Roux
Fayyaad Davids
Jan Hendrik Coetzer
Justin Behrens
Mohameed Farid Patel
Muhammad Ilyas Bala
Martin Khumalo
Juan Steyn
Esosa Aihevba
Simeon de Bryne
Taheer Isaacs
Ammaar Haffejee
Marcus Bakker
Byron Giraudeaux
Matthew van der Mescht
Mohammed Aarsh Patel
