Sunrisers Eastern Cape preparing for life after Aiden Markram in SA20

Markram was bought at auction by the Durban Super Giants for a whopping R14 million, the second highest SA20 bid in history. 

This was not before he led the Eastern Cape franchise to two consecutive titles in the competition’s first two editions, while they finished runners-up in last year’s final. Birrell revealed that they tried their best to keep him.

"Yes Aiden is a huge blow to us, in all three seasons he led the team with the bat but also led it off the field and on the field with his leadership and everyone looked up to him,” Birrel said. 

“We tried our hardest to keep him but Durban Super Giants were prepared to pay just too much for him and we had to let him go. So, it was a big blow and it will be a big blow and we're gonna miss him, that's for sure."

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In a move that will help appease their fans, they did manage to scoop a big name of their own in the auction held in September, with Quinton de Kock bringing his wealth of experience to the side. 

Birrell says de Kock will open the batting alongside England’s Jonny Bairstow.

"Yes we're very fortunate to get Quinton, Rusell and I have worked quite a lot with him while we were with the Proteas. We feel that we will get a lot out of Quinton, he struck form at the right time in India and he's showing that he's not a spent force,” he added. 

“I'm sure every team will be worried about him opening the batting and probably opening the batting with Jonny Bairstow. The two of them will come into every game with a huge amount of experience behind them."