SUCCESS League commissioner Graeme Smith has sung the praises of the SA20 following the conclusion of the third season of the competition over the weekend. Picture: Alet Pretorius/Sportzpics
Image: Alet Pretorius/Sportzpics
It’s no secret that the success of the SA20 directly affects the finances of Cricket South Africa (CSA), and season three of the premier T20 competition in the land has been lauded as a resounding success.
A total of 17 of the 34 matches were sold out, and there was increased interest in the rivalries between the franchises.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape were also knocked off their perch after winning the first two editions, as MI Cape Town triumphed in the final over the weekend at the Wanderers.
League commissioner Graeme Smith was more than pleased with the growth of the competition this year.
"Fan loyalty has grown from strength to strength in terms of how fans are getting behind their teams. The loyalty has grown” Smith said.
"This in turn has seen home ground advantage grow significantly this year. It was also so good to see so many kids at the stadiums, they have really fallen in love with cricket and SA20, that is fantastic to see.
"It’s really good to see how cricket in general has grown over the last couple of years. We take a lot of pride in our crowd attendance. It’s something that we never take for granted.
"I think after establishing the League and putting in a lot of work, I really felt like this year was a big growth year for Betway SA20.”
The SA20 is also helping the development of cricket in South Africa, the former Proteas skipper explained.
“We are working with Cricket South Africa, obviously on growing the talent pool, creating awareness, building on things. There's a lot of work that we, behind the scenes, are talking to Cricket South Africa about and jointly trying to improve, like, the upgrade of stadiums before the 2027 World Cup,” Smith said.
"From our perspective now, you can see SA20 just two and a half years in, and the grassroots programmes that we're personally investing in alongside Cricket South Africa is the Under-19 girls' camps, Umpire Exchange Programs, and some of our Under-19 coaches from the Ladies went over and experienced firsthand the WPL in India.
"We also launched Schools SA20 this year. I would say outside Cricket South Africa, we are now the single biggest investor back into the grassroots programmes.”