New Delhi, Aug 11 (IANS) While the Indian Premier League (IPL) remains the undisputed leader of T20 franchise cricket leagues financially, commercially, and game-wise, South Africa’s SA20 has firmly established its own footprint by consistently filling stadiums across the country.

Scheduled during the peak summer months in the rainbow nation, the presence of stars like Heinrich Klaasen, Kagiso Rabada, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Dewald Brevis, and Tristan Stubbs has helped drive unprecedented attendance, including some of the games being sell-outs.

With the tournament’s fifth season on the horizon, former South Africa fast bowler Chris Morris noted that the tournament’s success relies on creating distinct local fan loyalty. “First of all, it’s pulled the crowds in. No disrespect to the leagues that we’ve had before that have tried to almost be our number one league. The SA20 has come along, and it uses the formula that the IPL used to have – franchises across the country.

“I think the most important thing that stands out for me is now people actually have teams to support, if that makes sense. Going into season five, people have their team now, and they know, ‘I’m a local, this is where I’m from, and this is the team we support.’ Whereas back in the day, you’ve got your local province playing against a province that’s next door in the province.

“You’ve got crossbreeding of who you’re going to support, as the SA20, the lines are drawn pretty clearly of who you want to support. I think what makes it so good is that people want to go watch cricket again, if that makes sense. Our stadiums are packed every single game. It’s the tournament that people look forward to every single year – it really is,” Morris told IANS on Tuesday, in an online interaction facilitated by SA20 ahead of the Season 5 Auction.

While international cricket remains the primary drawcard for cricket fans in South Africa, Morris pointed out that SA20 has succeeded by introducing a broader demographic of fans to live stadium action. “The Proteas will always be number one. The Proteas ladies will always be number one. People want to go watch them. But the SA20 is why people go watch cricket in South Africa, because they want to be part of the vibe.

“They want to be part of the experience. I think what is so cool to see is that you’ve got people that are going to watch cricket for the first time at a stadium that don’t usually watch cricket and when you’ve got something like that, a system like that in place where you’ve got the right product of the right players and the right vibe and the right energy and it’s well run, that’s where you get a lot of people coming in to watch cricket,” he said.

From his perspective, the future of SA20 looks very bright. “I think moving forward from there, it’s only going to get bigger. We’ve obviously got the same system in place like the IPL. With that system in place, people just want to watch the IPL.

“Apart from that, they’re supporting the IPL teams in South Africa, which is a great thing. In my opinion, it’s only going to go from strength to strength because you’ve got some of the world’s best who want to come to South Africa, first of all. But the product itself is good.

“The cricket is really good, and I think that’s the main selling point for players who want to come and play. The actual product itself of the games they’ve been really good. Yes, we have our blowouts every now and then. But if you look at the games, they all have been exciting. So big names, exciting games, full crowds, what more do you want?”

Season 5 of SA20 will feature high-profile international players like England’s Joe Root, Phil Salt, Sam Curran, and Will Jacks, alongside Australia’s T20I captain Mitchell Marsh. Morris believes Marsh’s arrival in the setup of three-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape is a major talking point amongst fans in South Africa.

“I think we’ve seen Joe Root, who’s exciting to have. He’s obviously had so much experience. The guys in Paarl really enjoyed him. He has brought some unbelievable insight to the game and just a calmness to that squad. Phil Salt, unbelievably exciting. I think he, coming back to Pretoria, he’s going to be really, really good on a pitch that he likes to bat on, with a slightly smaller ground and where the balls travel faster.

“But I think what everybody’s talking about is Mitch Marsh. We know how destructive he can be as an all-rounder. We’ve seen him do it all around the world and I tell you what, if he gets involved all around this country with the way he plays, with the bat in hand, and even with the ball, and his leadership skills that he does have, I tell you what, he can make a big impact on that squad that is already very strong – the Sunrisers.

“So he gets involved with that crowd and starts enjoying the band, starts enjoying the fierce, as they call it, that happens on that side of the world, and once you get those guys playing for a certain team, and they really start feeling the vibe, that’s when they become very dangerous. So I think Mitch Marsh is the obvious one that we all want to see how he goes in the country,” he concluded.

–IANS

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