NEW DELHI: Former Proteas all-rounder Chris Morris has shared his thoughts on SA20 season 4 player auction, scheduled for September 9, and said young pacer Kwena Maphaka could spark intense bidding wars while also singling out Aiden Markram as one of the headline acts.
The 19-year-old Maphaka announced himself with a career-best fiery spell of 4-20 against Australia in the first T20I on Sunday. His four-wicket haul saw him become the youngest bowler from full member cricket nations to take four wickets in a T20I match, surpassing the record of Wayne Parnell, who was 19 years and 318 days old when he claimed a four-fer against the West Indies in 2009.
"I think Kwena Maphaka is going to be at the centre of a bidding frenzy. Dewald Brevis is another, given he hasn’t been retained. Rassie van der Dussen, with his experience, could also be in demand, " Morris said to SuperSport.
"Personally, I always look out for the player who ends up going for a surprisingly high price — the buy of the tournament that no one saw coming. For me, Delano Potgieter could be that player. He’s been successful in SA20, has done well for MI Cape Town, and is a proven performer in domestic cricket. He covers multiple roles and adds great balance to a squad — the kind of player I’d sign straight away, "
Markram, under whose captaincy Sunrisers won two successive titles in 2023 and 2024, has decided against being retained by two-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape, opting to head to the auction instead ahead of the upcoming SA20 season. Sunrisers, however, will have the option to use the right-to-match-card in case they want to buy Markram back.
"Sunrisers haven’t retained him, but they do have a right-to-match card, meaning they can match the final bid for him and retain his services. That opens the door for mind games — other teams could bid aggressively to push his price high enough to make it difficult for the Sunrisers to bring him back, " said Markram.
"Two teams stand out to me: MI Cape Town, which would solve their captaincy question — not that Rashid Khan is doing a bad job — but having a successful local international captain at number four would be a big boost, especially since they’ve released Rassie van der Dussen, leaving a vacancy at number three.