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RISING STARS RELIVE LIFE-CHANGING AUCTION MOMENTS
The Betway SA20 Season 4 auction, which is set to be held in Johannesburg on September 9, is fast approaching.
The past three auctions have shown how in a blink of an eye a young South African cricketer’s future can be transformed.
Many are glued to the broadcast the entire day hoping for auctioneer Richard Madley’s gavel to come down on their name, while others cannot endure the tension.
Betway SA20 caught up with Season 3’s Rising Stars to relive their Auction Day experience.
Keagan Lion-Cachet (Pretoria Capitals)
Matches: 5 Runs: 86, Highest score: 34*, Average: 28.66, Strike rate: 132.30
"I still get goosebumps talking about it now again.
"I was in residence (at University of Pretoria) in our community room. I don’t think we’ve ever fit that amount of people in a room before. As soon as they said it, I almost blanked out!
"We didn’t even wait for the full surname 'Lion-Cachet'. We just heard Keagan, and it went absolutely mental. To do that with my friends, that was unbelievable."
Keagan Lion-Cachet, Pretoria Capitals' Season 3 Rookie, played in five matches scoring 86 runs.
CJ King (Durban’s Super Giants)
Matches: 1, Wickets: 1, Best bowling: 1/17, Economy rate: 5.66
"I was in PE (Gqeberha) in my flat, watching a movie, Captain America, with my brother (JP King) and then Jordan Hermann called my brother and he said ‘Well done JP, you got picked!’
"Twenty seconds after that is when I got drafted. It was quite unreal, like getting drafted on the same phone call.
After that my phone just went crazy! I was getting calls from everyone, Instagram, and then my parents also called. It was quite emotional."
JP King (Joburg Super Giants)
Matches: 1, Runs: 9, Highest score: 9, Average: 9.00, Strike rate: 90
"I was enjoying Jordan Hermann’s Disney+ account. And then Jordan phoned me to say ‘You just got picked up in SA20.’ I was like ‘Okay, nice’.
"And then 20 seconds later, CJ got picked up. So, that was quite special. We then switched off Captain America, and turned on the auction to go back and see what actually happened.
"It was nice that we both got picked. It would have been a bit awkward if the one got picked, and not the other. The emotions were all over. My dad was a bit all over the place when he phoned."
Brothers CJ King and JP King were together when they were drafted as Rookies for Betway SA20 Season 3.
Dewan Marais (Paarl Royals)
Matches: 1, Runs: 2, Highest score: 2, Average: 2, Strike rate: 66.66
"I was on tour in Limpopo, playing for the Eastern Storm. I actually didn’t watch the auction, but my phone just kept ringing. There were like hundreds of messages.
"The first call I accepted was my dad’s. He was very emotional, kept on crying, so I gave him a few minutes. He called back in about five minutes, and that’s where I was at the moment."
Paarl Royals' Season 3 Rookie, Dewan Marais couldn't understand why his cellphone was ringing non-stop during a pre-season tour.
Daniel Smith (Sunrisers Eastern Cape)
"It was actually my anniversary, so I was out at Tiger's Milk with my girlfriend, definitely having a cold beverage at the time. It was already a special day!
"But then the excitement got ramped up, especially after hearing the news and getting all the messages. So yeah, it was a special day."
Daniel Smith may not have played for Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Season 3 but enjoyed the experience.
