England’s all-time leading wicket-taker James Anderson has entered the auction for the SA20 as he looks to continue his franchise cricket career.
The 43-year-old was picked as a wildcard by Manchester Originals for this year’s Hundred but has been unsuccessful in earning contracts in the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash.
The seamer is one of 541 players – 300 South Africans and 241 overseas – on the list for the auction on 9 September.
There are 84 available slots in the six teams, with 25 gaps for overseas players.
Anderson is one of 95 England-qualified players on the list, alongside all-rounder Moeen Ali, batter Jason Roy and seamers Saqib Mahmood and Reece Topley.
As expected there is no Joe Root, who impressed last year, due to a clash with the Ashes against Australia.
There are a host of South Africa internationals too, including T20 captain Aiden Markram and seven others – Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Ottneil Baartman and Gerald Coetzee – from their T20 World Cup squad in 2024.
Former England captain Jos Buttler, Afghanistan star spinner Rashid Khan and West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran were among the players retained.
The fourth edition of the tournament will take place between 26 December and 26 January. It is an earlier time slot than previous tournaments to avoid a clash with the T20 World Cup in February and March.