SA 20: CSA Requests SA20 Franchises To Sign Wildcard Players By December 30

The SA20 franchises have been advised by Cricket South Africa (CSA) to sign a Wildcard each, with no cap on the player’s signing bonus. However, the deal must be completed by December 30 and the minimum cost should be R175,000.

Mumbai Indians (Cape Town), Chennai Super Kings (Johannesburg), SunRisers Hyderabad (Port Elizabeth), Lucknow Super Giants (Durban), Delhi Capitals (Pretoria), and Rajasthan Royals are the six IPL clubs that have franchises in SA20.

No Maximum Limit On The League Fee For Which A Wildcard Player May Be Contracted: SA20

“The minimum League Fee payable to the Wildcard Player shall be R175 000. There shall be no maximum limit on the League Fee for which a Wildcard Player may be contracted,” SA20 said in a recent advisory to the six franchises, all owned by the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams. Cricbuzz wrote about the Wildcard provision on November 8.

A wildcard might be a South African citizen or an unsigned international athlete. SA20 made it clear that even a player who had not been included on the auction record might sign. The new rule has the obvious effect of allowing each team to have a player strength of 18 cricketers, with a maximum of eight foreign players.

Wildcard Player May Either Be A South African Player Or An Overseas Player

The teams will be permitted to hunt for a replacement if a player who joined as a wildcard becomes unavailable.
At no time during a game may there be more than four foreign players in the starting XI, according to the CSA.
The inaugural round of the competition will begin on January 10.

“Each Franchisee may increase its Registered Squad for the 2023 Season to 18 Players through the selection and contracting of an additional Player. The Wildcard Player may either be a South African Player or an Overseas Player.

“The Wildcard Player need not have been registered for the Player Auction. Each Franchisee shall accordingly be permitted to have a maximum of 8 Overseas Players in its Registered Squad (if a Wildcard player is taken by the Franchise).

The maximum number of Overseas Players (currently 4) on the field of play at any time during any Match remains unchanged (sic),” the two-page guidelines, seen by Cricbuzz, state.

The Wildcard Addendum further notes, “These Wildcard Rules form part of the Regulations with which all Franchisees, as per their Franchise Team License and Playing Agreement (“Franchise Agreement”) must comply, and should be read in conjunction with, the Player Regulations.

Unless otherwise defined herein, defined terms shall have the meaning assigned to them in the Player Regulations and Franchise Agreement.”

The Salary Cap, which initially cost $ 2 million, served as the foundation for the Cape Town auction on September 19. The Wildcard rule, which really undermines the integrity of the Salary Cap, was subsequently introduced by the CSA.

Although it is unclear how the new regulation would affect the league and the players, the provision’s lack of a cap on the maximum wage may entice some well-known athletes who have previously shunned the league.

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