Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Jason Holder Among 25-plus Names Signed Up By South Africa T20 League; CA Offers BBL Contract To Top Names To Hold Them Back

It has been reported that more than 25 cricket players have signed up for the T20 league that Cricket South Africa (CSA) is putting out and that is set to begin in January of next year. Nearly a dozen names from England, 10 from Sri Lanka, and 10 from the Caribbean islands have joined the team. 

According to information obtained by TOI, Cricket Australia (CA) is in the midst of awarding Big Bash contracts to some of its top white-ball players, including David Warner, Steven Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Cameron Green.

This implies that the best cricketers from Australia won’t be able to participate in these new T20 leagues unless some of them decide to give up the game after the T20 World Cup this year and turn free agents. 

Jos Buttler Signs To Play In The South Africa T20 League

Except for a handful who are rumoured to be considering a move, cricketers from New Zealand will also avoid the new T20 competitions.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is now writing new contracts so that its cricketers may continue to play domestic First-Class cricket. Below are some of the well-known athletes who have already joined the league in South Africa while others are set to.

Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, and Tymal Mills are some of the English players who have already signed on; other names include Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and Harry Tector.

Additionally, all of the best T20 cricket players from South Africa are already signed up for their own “local” competition. The list is currently a work in progress. 

West Indian Players’ Availability For South African T20 League Still Unknown

Kieron Pollard is a member of the Mumbai Indians, but it is unknown if the Trinidadian would be available for the league in South Africa or the UAE. Sunil Narine and Andre Russell have joined the Kolkata Knight Riders, while Shimron Hetmeyer and Rovman Powell have joined GMR, the 50% owner of the Delhi Capitals who has invested in the UAE league.  

These signings are still in the works and will be done so till the World Cup is over. The cricket community is also anticipating the World Cup’s conclusion since many cricketers are anticipated to call it quits on their T20 careers after the competition and be free to pursue other opportunities. 

Franchise owners in South Africa are also quite busy hiring support employees in the meanwhile. Lance Klusener has been hired as coach of the Lucknow Super Giants, and Eric Simmons has joined Stephen Fleming at the Chennai Super Kings. 

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