One is that additional franchises translate into an improved commercial outlook. And who’s to say that won’t happen? If six teams that didn’t exist less than five years ago can be roaring successes, why not eight? The experience and expertise that comes with IPL ownership helps, of course. But the proof of this pudding is in the doing, and the SA20 has done things exceedingly well.
This was done as a one-off to enable South Africa’s major grounds to ready themselves for the 2027 men’s World Cup, which will be played in the country as well as in Zimbabwe and Namibia. That’s a good reason to clear the decks, but the complaints flowed. Until, that is, the SA20 started on Boxing Day.
And then there’s Bloemfontein. It has an excellent ground. It has dedicated people who run the game there exceptionally well. But it doesn’t have a team in the SA20. Neither does any other centre in South Africa’s vast central region – two of the current six are based on the Highveld, another two in the Cape, and the remaining two on the east coast. That has to change, and Bloem is the place to make that happen.
So the SA20 faces pros and cons as it emerges from its original novelty value into the light that shines on it as a valuable, in every sense, part of the game. Whisper it for now, but it already has claims on being considered the centrepiece of the South African summer. There’s another slogan you might consider, Graeme.