CHENNAI: For the first time since their reinstatement 33 years ago, South Africa will not play international cricket on Boxing Day. Test matches on December 26 have been a long-standing tradition in countries like Australia and South Africa. The rainbow nation has played Tests, either at home or in Australia, on most occasions and some white-ball cricket sparsely on occasion. This summer, however, is different. This year the peak summer of South African cricket will be all about the premier T20 competition of the country — SA20 league.
When the tournament was started in 2023 by Cricket South Africa, it was perhaps their last attempt to have a successful T20 league like the IPL. It was a calculated gamble, but a well-planned out one. Three years on, it is clear that the tournament is here to stay in the South African calendar. Six teams, already established IPL franchises, T20 matches where people come around and enjoy the summer. Safe to say, SA20 has ticked a few boxes, and in the process have given the stage to up and coming talents in the country.
In the last three years, Dewald Brevis, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Rubin Hermann and Tristan Stubbs have become household names in South African cricket apart from the already established Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada and the rest. South African cricket has also flourished internationally in this period as the women's team played T20 World Cup and an ODI World Cup finals while the men's team played on T20 WC final and won the World Test Championship.
SA20 league commissioner and former captain Graeme Smith credit the national team and the players for the international success. He also reiterates the goal of SA20 to build a larger pool of players who get a chance at the global level. "I think our role at SA20 from the beginning, we have always said that we want to put 50-60 players on the global map every year, expose them to the best possible cricket in front of big crowds, big production, and start to really help develop the player pool around the national teams," Smith said during a virtual interaction on JioStar Press Room ahead of SA20 Season 4 few days before the tournament began. "I think over the last couple of years, we have certainly seen a lot of players develop their game, go from talented youngsters to great international cricketers. I think along that journey, hopefully we'll start to see that squad depth and the amount of players that can play for South Africa really develop," he added.
One of things he has reiterated over the years is that SA20 aims to be the best league after IPL. "We have really worked hard to make sure that our window in now, December, but in general, January, February, that we dominate that window and we own it. I think we've done very well in terms of building to the levels that we are. I think seeing fans come back to the game in South Africa, big crowd is always a highlight for us. The main thing is to make sure we give the players and the teams the best platform to perform. We want to see South African cricket strong into the future.
"In terms of metrics and viewership and global viewership, I think we have been able to achieve really incredible numbers over the last few years. The stats have spoken to us being the biggest league outside India. And for us, it's about making sure year-on-year we grow. Commercially, we've gone from strength to strength. The other great thing is that when I travel around the world for cricket, just chatting to people that turn on the TV, people in the game, they love seeing South Africa through the television, the vibrancy, the competitive cricket, and people having a great time through our summer. I think those are the things that we want to make sure that shine through again," he said.
The first step towards that will be getting the tournament going in a spectacular fashion as defending champions MI Cape Town take on Durban Super Giants on Friday. The next month will show whether the league is able to build on the success of last three years and the way forward.
Catch all the action from SA20 Season 4, December 26 2025 - January 25 2026, LIVE on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network