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SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith has expressed confidence that there will be a new record at this year’s player auction set for Tuesday in Johannesburg.
Tristan Stubbs currently holds that honour, with his 2022 bid of R9.2 million by two-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape yet to be usurped after three seasons.
Now, going into the fourth edition of the T20 league, Smith says the high calibre of players on display is likely to encourage the franchises to go deep into their pockets.
"Absolutely, I think some players are going into this players and I think R10 million could be broken for the first time. I think there's going to be a lot of attention on a few players," said Smith.
"And it's going to be interesting to see how the teams and franchises go about building their squads, I think they understand their home conditions, the South African player piece, in particular, a lot more than in season one.
"And we've also seen, over the three years, some local players, in particular, really stand out and put their hands up both locally and internationally.
"So I think there's some big story lines that will come out of, certainly, the auction."
Smith also announced that they have made some adjustments to the auction process, which are meant to improve the players’ market value.
"As we build into season four, we felt it was time to reset the system, so we drafted regulations that forces the franchises to have to choose an element of players within their squad in the pre-signing phase, and have to release others back into the market," he added.
"I think the key with that is that we wanted to create market value for players, our franchises have had three years of learning and we felt the element of pre-signing woul protect the consistency for fans and players.
"But also allow players who have really developed and grown after three years in the system to have an opportunity to go into the auction."
