17 South African cricketers throw names in the hat for inaugural Women’s Premier League

Nonkululeko Mlaba of South Africa during the Women's T20I Tri-Series final match between South Africa and India at Buffalo Park on 2 February, 2023 in East London, South Africa. (Photo: Michael Sheehan/Gallo Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

8 Feb 2023

The potentially life-changing Women’s Premier League auction will happen at the same time that the Women’s T20 World Cup action is on the go. While this could prove to be a distraction, the impact is far-reaching.

For so long women’s cricket has been an afterthought in the global game to men’s cricket. This is still the case with the Women’s Premier League (WPL) — the women’s version of the Indian Premier League (IPL) — taking shape a full 15 years after the inaugural version of the IPL.

But the fact that the tournament is the most lucrative in women’s cricket — based on the sale of media rights and franchise ownership rights — is a start in changing the narrative and putting women’s cricket on the forefront of the global game.

WPL media rights were sold for $117-million (R2.05-billion) and the five franchises were sold for a total of $570-million (R10.03-billion).

In the words of Bob Dylan: “The times they are a-changin’”.

Tight schedule

The WPL auction takes place on Monday 13 February, three days after the start of the Women’s T20 World Cup which starts on Friday 10 February at Newlands with a clash between South Africa and Sri Lanka.

The timing is less than ideal with many of the world’s best cricketers fighting for national glory while a potentially life-changing personal payday happens in the background.

“It’s the elephant in the room,” Sophie Devine, the New Zealand captain, said at the T20 World Cup captains’ press conference.

“It’s a really unique experience. It’s enormous. You talk about glass ceilings and I think the WPL is going to be the next stage.”

“I am really excited about it. As female cricketers, this is something we have never been through before. On every scale, it’s going to be awkward. That’s the word we have spoken about.”

While there will only be five teams competing in the inaugural WPL from 4 to 26 March, there are plans to extend the tournament in following years, depending on its success.

The five WPL teams will each have a budget of around R26-million to spend on between 15 and 18 players to fill their squad.

409 players will go under the hammer including 17 South Africans. Interestingly, Lizelle Lee and Mignon du Preez — who both retired from international cricket — are both among the 17.

Du Preez quit the international game because of a combination of South Africa not offering T20 national contracts — white-ball contracts include both the 50-over and T20I game — and wanting to start a family.

Lee called it quits on her international career after citing issues with the fitness standards at Cricket South Africa.

Visit Daily Maverick's home page for more news, analysis and investigations

Proteas captain, Dane van Niekerk, who was similarly left out of the upcoming World Cup due to failed fitness tests, has also thrown her name in the WPL auction hat.

Big bucks for big names

The aforementioned trio, particularly Van Niekerk and Lee, are expected to pick up big contracts at the auction — especially considering their superb track records playing in other franchise tournaments around the world including the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia and The Hundred in England.

For many of the other 14 South African cricketers, the going might not be so easy.

“Some people are going to get picked up; some people won’t,” added Devine.

“And you are going to get a value attached to what you are worth which, as human beings, is not the nicest [thing], to be perfectly honest. But it’s also a job and it’s what we’ve put our names in for.”

Each team is allowed to select seven overseas players in their squads — while only four can play at a time — of which at least one of the seven must be a player from an associate nation.

That means there are only 30 overseas spots available to the 128 players from full-nation countries that registered for the auction.

Australia and England have the most players registered with 28 and 27 respectively. The high number is hardly surprising considering their superior domestic structures which include their franchise tournaments.

The five WPL sides could easily stack their teams with only players from the two leading countries and put up a successful tournament.

South Africans in with a shout

However, South Africa have a number of world-beaters who could be in the reckoning for a big cheque.

Sinalo Jafta has the highest base price amongst her compatriots. The wicketkeeper-batter is in the top bracket at IND 50 Lakh which is just over R1-million. She is alongside Australian star all-rounder Ellyse Perry and her international captain Meg Lanning.

No 1 T20 bowler in world rankings, Sophie Ecclestone is also among the top lot.

South Africa’s superstar opening bowlers Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp are in the IND 40 lakh (R850,000) base category section, but that price is sure to go up for the pair.

The retired pair of Lee and Du Preez are also in the same category.

Acclaimed opening batter Laura Wolvaardt could be the steal of the auction at the lowly base price of IND 30 lakh (R640,000) but it is likely a bidding war could break out for the starlet which could push her price to much higher.

Nonkululeko Mlaba, South Africa’s left-arm tweaker — who has recently reached a career-high No 2 ranking on the ICC T20 bowling ranking — could be another steal in the same price category as Wolvaardt.

Van Niekerk, Chloe Tryon, Ayabonga Khaka and Nadine de Klerk are other South Africans in the IND 30 lakh sections who could easily generate a good payday.

Only two members of South Africa’s current world cup squad are not on the auction list, top-order bat Lara Goodall and young all-rounder Annerie Dercksen.

Whatever happens at the auction on Monday, the women’s game is finally getting a seat at the global cricket table. DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

Sport

Tight schedule

Big bucks for big names

South Africans in with a shout