Leagues like ILT20 ‘not good for the game’ – Graeme Smith

T20 franchise leagues that do not field a majority of locally based players are “not good for the game”, according to SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith.

Speaking ahead of the league’s third season, which, once again, clashes directly with the UAE’s ILT20, Smith argued that what sets the SA20 apart is how rooted it is in the South African system and what it does for the country’s cricket.

“We see ourselves as very different to the ILT20. We’re a South African league, with a majority of South African players and our ultimate goal is to benefit South African players,” he said at the captain’s day press conference in Cape Town. “We’ve been built up against ILT20, so it’s very difficult for me to not come across like I’m bad-mouthing them, but I do feel like a league like that is not good for the game; that there’s that many international players required to build a team; there’s no investment back into local cricket. That is a challenge for the world game and something that needs to be managed going forward.”

While the SA20 follows an IPL-style model that allows for teams to field four internationals per XI, the ILT20 allows a maximum of nine internationals. All six SA20 squads are restricted to 19 players, must contain a minimum of 11 South African players and international places in the squads are limited to seven. They are also required to contract a rookie player, a South African under the age of 2022 who has not been contracted to the tournament before. The ILT20 requires that at least two UAE players are included in the playing XI and four in the squad overall, and that squads contract two players from Associate nations, who do not get any special provision in the SA20.

For Smith, the SA20’s focus is on developing as much local talent as possible while also offering international players the opportunity for tough competition. “We’re a Full Member nation. Our priority is to put on a global league, but to benefit South African cricket. That’s important for us,” he said. “What we have focused on is building the SA20 to the point where we are now being recognised as one of the biggest leagues outside the IPL. That’s important for us, and that’s the feedback we’re getting. And what we’ve seen from a player group is that this is where players want to play because it’s competitive, there’s good crowds, the standard of cricket is good, and this is the place to come and challenge yourself.”

The SA20 has already attracted the likes of Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan – who played a season at the ILT20 and then returned to South Africa – Trent Boult, and some of England’s most high-profile Test players for this season, Joe Root, Johnny Bairstow and (before he was injured) Ben Stokes. But several players have also made the move from the SA20 to the ILT20 such as Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard, Adil Rashid and Phil Salt, and there have been and may yet be instances where players whose teams are knocked out of one tournament fly across to play in the knockouts of the other. Smith described that as a situation the league does not have “control” over.

What they do manage is their own initiatives, both in the four-week period that the tournament takes place and outside of that. This year, the SA20 started a schools league for both boys and girls that ran from September 2024 and will conclude in March. They have hired former national assistant coach Vincent Barnes to work on the project, which includes over 500 schools. They have also run camps for Under-19 women’s cricketers ahead of the age-group World Cup but talk of a women’s SA20 has gone quiet after the WPL moved into the January-February window from 2026. ESPNcricinfo understands that over the next 18 months, the SA20 will look at how to develop a women’s competition but for now will continue to work with younger players.

“There’s a lot of really cool grassroots programmes that we’re putting in place that hopefully will unearth some incredible talent on both the girls and boys side,” Smith said. “Our franchises are also starting to build academies and scouts and do things on the ground which will really benefit the ecosystem. We’re hoping in the next coming two to three years that you’ll really see the impact of SA20 at the grassroots level.”

For its part, the ILT20 launched a development tournament ahead of its second season, which ran in Dubai and for which more than 300 local players signed up to the draft.

The other measurable comparison between the two leagues is fan engagement. Last season, the SA20 boasted ten sold out matches and 70% of the overall tickets available were sold while the ILT20 reported a 300% increase in stadium attendances.

For Smith, public support for the SA20 is one of the standout features which makes the competition “an established product now that has elevated itself to probably the biggest league outside of the IPL.” “I’ll never forget seeing you know the fan bases and the colours of each team being supported,” he said. “The feedback we get globally is when people tune in, they see a happy South Africa in summer with full stadiums and incredible cricket.”