Dewald Brevis and Aiden Markram shattered the Betway SA20 Season 4 Player Auction records on Tuesday, with the pair becoming the most expensive buys in the history of all auctions to date.
The South African top-order batters, who were the talk of the town before going under Richard Madley’s hammer, were in huge demand in Johannesburg, setting the entire cricket world abuzz during the tense bidding wars for the marquee sets.
The Pretoria Capitals, who had Indian legend and new coach Sourav Ganguly setting the bids for the Centurion franchise, won a bidding war with Joburg Super Kings to land Brevis for a whopping R16.5 million to become the most expensive player bought in the SA20 auction history.
Brevis, 22, is homegrown in Pretoria and will return to Centurion after playing the past three seasons at MI Cape Town.
This was part of a hugely exciting Marquee Set 1 with Brevis’ purchase coming just 12 minutes after Aiden Markram was bought for R14 million.
Proteas T20I captain Markram will relocate to Kingsmead after Sunrisers Eastern Cape had done their level best to keep their former captain by utilising their Right to Match (RTM) card at the initial auction price of R12.4 million, before DSG raised their bid by a further R1.6 million.
“I’m always reluctant to talk about the numbers, but it is exciting to see the investment back into South African cricket,” Betway SA20 League Commissioner said after the auction.
“This is an investment that was never there. The franchises have come and they’ve invested properly. You see they’re getting behind the South African players.
“I think it’s also credit to how the players have progressed over the last three or four years. I think there’s some proper talent. The platform that Betway SA20 has provided has not only benefited them here (in South Africa), but benefited them in other leagues and internationally as well.
“I think credit to their performances. They’ve fetched the prices because they’ve performed well, and they’ve stood out.”
The previous Betway SA20 auction record was held by Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s Tristan Stubbs’ R9.2 million at the maiden auction in Cape Town back in 2022.
Joburg Super Kings went close to the mark with the acquisition of Proteas allrounder Wiaan Mulder for R9 million along with left-arm seamer Nandre Burger for R6.3 million.
Overall, the six franchises spent R129.3 million on 84 players giving them a chance to unleash their potential and make an impact on the upcoming Season 4.
A mega R116.9 million was spent on South African players, which includes R22.8 million on 12 Under-23 players.
Rising teenage paceman Kwena Maphaka will form part of the Durban’s Super Giants squad, after the left-arm seamer was purchased for R2.3 million, while promising youngsters Janco Smit, Bayanda Majola and JJ Bason were picked up by Joburg Super Kings, Pretoria Capitals and Paarl Royals respectively to mark their debut SA20 seasons.
“We have had an unprecedented investment in young players,” Smith said. “In the Under-23s, I think over R22 million was invested into young players in South African cricket, which is incredible.”
