Box-office Will Jacks brings his six-hitting power to MI Cape Town

England allrounder Will Jacks will call Newlands home after completing his move to MI Cape Town for Betway SA20 Season 5.

Jacks arrives in Cape Town with cult hero status still intact at his former franchise, the Pretoria Capitals.

Over three seasons at Centurion, no batter in the competition sent more sixes - seven! - into the grasp of the Betway Catch R2 Million fans, a record that turned him into box-office viewing every time he walked to the middle. That six-hitting threat, paired with his handy off-spin, is exactly the profile MI Cape Town have gone shopping for.

For Jacks, the move is as much about geography and family as it is about form.

"Incredibly happy to be joining MI Cape Town for the SA20," Jacks said. "It's a competition that I've loved so far. I played three years, the first three seasons, and I absolutely love it. I love the grounds there in South Africa, and I think Cape Town is such an incredible city. To be joining another MI franchise and making my fourth one, I'm really excited."

The switch does indeed complete something of a personal collection. Jacks now holds MI status across four franchises worldwide - Mumbai Indians in the IPL, MI Emirates in the ILT20, MI London in The Hundred, and now MI Cape Town - a spread of colours matched by very few players anywhere in the game.

DID YOU KNOW? Trent Boult, not retained by MI Cape Town for Season 5, is the only player to have turned out for all five teams in the 'MI Family'. Meanwhile, Kieron Pollard has played for four and coached the other, MI London in The Hundred.

Jacks' previous stint in Betway SA20 at Pretoria Capitals yielded 740 runs (including the League's fastest century and six 50s), 13 wickets and 15 catches

He'll do it alongside a dressing room stacked with familiar faces and one very notable former foe.

"I've been lucky to play with so many incredible players, obviously through the MI franchise and just around the world in general, so I'll choose someone who I haven't played with yet, and that would be Kagiso Rabada," Jacks said when asked to name a teammate he's most looking forward to sharing a changing room with.

Jacks was also quick to point to what he sees as the connective tissue running through every MI franchise he's represented - a culture he first picked up on from his very first IPL season with the Mumbai Indians.

"I think ever since I first joined Mumbai Indians for my first IPL, it was very clear that culture was really important to the franchise and to the whole worldwide group, and the word 'family' is used a lot," he said.

Here's when the Newlands faithful can see Jacks in the flesh! Register now for early access to tickets...

"I think the way that all the teams play in a unified manner, and even how you're looked after by ownership no matter what team you play for, and just the bond that you form with teammates all around the world is something that I'm really looking forward to continuing."

Then there's Newlands - a ground Jacks knows intimately from the other side of the boundary rope, and one he's now set to call home.

"Newlands is probably one of the most iconic cricket venues in the world," he said. "Obviously, being at the base of the mountain there is, as an away player, the game that you always look forward to on the calendar, and now being a home player, I know I'm going to be very lucky to have opportunities to play there. The crowd has always been a good turnout, and I think I'm really looking forward to experiencing that as a home player."

For MI Cape Town, the signing adds proven SA20 firepower to a squad already built around Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, and Nicholas Pooran. For Jacks, it's a homecoming of sorts to a competition he already loves - just with the mountain, and the crowd beneath it, finally on his side.