ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE BETWAY SA20 SEASON 4 PLAYER AUCTION

The build-up to Betway SA20 Season 4 Player Auction in Johannesburg on Tuesday, 9 September 2025 starts here!

Teams have decided on their list of retained players and concluded their pre-signings for the fourth edition of South Africa's premier T20 cricket league - confirmed to start during the height of the festive season, 26 December 2025, and concluding on 25 January 2026.

AUCTION TRACKER: Download, print and fill-out the squads as the auction unfolds

At the 2025 player auction, teams will have the chance to fill the gaps in their squad from a shortlisted list of players who registered their interest by 18 August 2025. While squad sizes will remain at 19 for Season 4, prior to the auction franchises are permitted no more than 6 retentions or pre-signed players comprising of a maximum of 3 overseas players and 3 South African players (excluding their Wildcard player). As a result of the player recruitment the teams have already done, 84 player slots will be available for auction.

Every player who enters the player auction will have a set reserve price. This is the lowest amount of money that they can be signed for. Of course, they could receive more money if a team wants to offer it... especially when a bidding war ensues!

THE AUCTION PROCESS

The Salary Cap

Each season teams are given a salary cap to spend on players. For Season 4, the salary cap is R41-million per team - making it the highest franchise T20 League salary cap outside of India.

Player slots

Each team has 19 player slots in their final squad, including a Wildcard (more on that later). Of the 18 players in the regular squad, teams can secure a maximum of 7 overseas players and a minimum of 11 South African players. The League’s commitment to the development of young talent in South Africa remains steadfast. There will no longer be a Rookie Draft, instead, teams must sign a minimum of two Under-23 players in their final 19 player squads.

What is an Under-23 player?

A South African player aged 22 or younger as of 25 December 2025 (the day before Season 4 gets underway). These players could have taken part in previous seasons of Betway SA20. Similarly, players who meet this definition will either have been retained or bought during the regular auction stage - there will not be a special draft.

What is a Wildcard?

Season 4 will again see teams being able to sign one Wildcard player to each squad. The Wildcard player can be a South African or overseas player, and their League fee falls outside of the salary cap. While the deadline for Wildcard selection is 21 December 2025, all teams have already confirmed their Season 4 Wildcards, namely: Heinrich Klaasen (Durban's Super Giants), Donovan Ferreira (Joburg Super Kings), Kagiso Rabada (MI Cape Town), Rubin Hermann (Paarl Royals), Andre Russell - West Indies (Pretoria Capitals) and Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape).

The Season 4 Wildcards are Heinrich Klaasen (Durban's Super Giants), Donovan Ferreira (Joburg Super Kings), Kagiso Rabada (MI Cape Town), Rubin Hermann (Paarl Royals), Andre Russell - West Indies (Pretoria Capitals) and Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape).

What's new for the Season 4 Auction?

In a Betway SA20 first, a significant strategic innovation has been added to the Season 4 auction with the introduction of the Right to Match (RTM) Cards.

A Right to Match Card allows a team the opportunity to match a winning auction bid on a player who played for that team in Season 3 and retain his services for Season 4.

Each team will have a limited number of RTM cards to use, depending on the number of South African pre-auction player retentions they use.

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