TRIVIA TUESDAY: AUCTION FAST FACTS

In this week’s Trivia Tuesday, we look at interesting facts which emerged from the Betway SA20 Season 3 Player Auction.

This year's auction saw the six franchises acquire 19 new players - including six via the second Rookie Draft - to complete their 19-man squads for Season 3. Here are five interesting facts which emerged during the event:

1. REEZA SETS NEW RECORDS

While Reeza Hendricks is not the first player to be have been bought at two SA20 auctions, MI Cape Town's new star signing has set two new records.

The R4.3-million fee MICT paid for him means he now features twice - in joint-7th and joint-9th - on the list of most expensive SA20 auction buys. Similarly, he is now also the Capetonians' record signing, eclipsing the R3.9-million they paid for both Rassie van der Dussen and George Linde during the inaugural auction in 2022.

2. PENNY-PINCHING ROYALS

With a kitty of R11.95-million going into the auction, Paarl Royals could outbid any team they wanted to. As it happened, however, the Kumar Sangakkara-led delegation completed their squad with the unchallenged purchase of wicketkeeper-batter Rubin Hermann (brother of Sunrisers Eastern Cape's Jordan) for his reserve price of R175 000.

All told, it meant Royals walked out of the auction with an unspent budget of R11.775-million which amounted to more than what the other five teams combined (R11.42-million) had remaining.

3. EIGHT NATIONS REPRESENTED DURING SEASON 3

With all six squads having now been settled, Season 3 will commence with players from eight different countries including South Africa.

With 18 representatives, England, will provide by far the most of the 38-strong foreign brigade. Afghanistan (6) and New Zealand (5) are the next highest providers of overseas talent while there are also multiple players from Sri Lanka (3) and West Indies (3). Rounding off the cast of stars are Marcus Stoinis, Roelof van der Merwe and Dinesh Karthik as Australia, Netherlands and India's sole representatives.

4. ST JOHN'S COLLEGE COMES TO FORE IN DRAFTED ROOKIES

While the inaugural class of Rookies were old boys from six different schools, three of the Season 3 group call St John's College their alma mater. This includes the King brothers, CJ (Durban's Super Giants) and JP (Joburg Super Kings), as well as Keagan Lion-Cachet, chosen by Pretoria Capitals.

MI Cape Town's Connor Esterhuizen, who made more appearances than any other Rookie during Season 2, is also a St John's Old Boy suggesting something promising is cooking at the prestigious Johannesburg school.

5. 33 NEWBIES TO MAKE SA20 BOW

South Africa's premier T20 cricket league will have 23 first-timers during Season 3. Interestingly, despite Paarl Royals having reached the playoffs in both seasons to date, they have signed up the most newbies for the coming campaign - nine. Their Season 3 squad will included the competition's first overseas Indian player, in the Dinesh Karthik as well as English great Joe Root and the talented duo of Kwena Maphaka and Lhuan-dre Pretorius whose Under-19 World Cup selection prevented their participation in last season.

The remaining newbies for 2025 are pretty much equally spread among the other teams, namely Durban's Super Giants (5), Joburg Super Kings (4), MI Cape Town (4), Pretoria Capitals (5) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape (5).