SA20: New era as T20 tournament begins in South Africa
A sell-out crowd, a forecast promising a balmy summer's evening and a palpable sense of expectation around Newlands, Cape Town's famously picturesque cricket ground that has Table Mountain as a backdrop.
For organisers of the keenly anticipated SA20, which begins on 10 January, the omens look good.
The opening game (1530 GMT) between near neighbours Mumbai Indians Cape Town and Paarl Royals, based just 40km (25 miles) east of the city, promises to be an enthralling one, particularly since both sides have some of the best exponents of the international T20 game in their ranks.
Big names and big hits
The home side, captained by Afghanistan's T20 skipper Rashid Khan, are able to call on England pair Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone, fresh from last month's World Cup success in Australia.
There will also be lots of interest in the performance of their compatriot Jofra Archer, who returns to action after a 10-month injury layoff.
In a fearsome pace attack, the 27-year-old will team up with South Africa international Kagiso Rabada.
However, much of the interest will also focus on the highly promising 19-year-old Dewald Brevis who smashed a South African T20 record 162 from just 57 balls for his local franchise team in November.
The 19-year-old, nicknamed Baby AB because of his uncanny resemblance in looks and batting style to AB de Villiers, has been picked out by the former Proteas skipper as one of the players to watch.
"I think there's a lot of young players that have come through in the last few years and one of the very first up on my list: Dewald Brevis," explained de Villiers, who will be part of the commentary team.
"I'm looking forward to watching him play, and a few other youngsters that have performed really well.
"I think the SA20 comes at a really good time for South African cricket.
"We have seen the amazing things that these leagues have done to cricket in particular nations. To give our youngsters this base and the foundation to get exposure at the highest level against the best players in the world is what it's all about."
'A great place to play cricket'
Paarl Royals' batting line-up includes captain David Miller, a regular part of South Africa's T20 squad for over a decade.
The left-hander, who helped Gujurat Titans to the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) title in their maiden season, will be joined by the likes of England white ball skipper Jos Buttler and his predecessor Eoin Morgan, both World Cup winners in the 50-over and T20 formats of the game.
"The benefit of South Africa is that the weather is always good, the time zones are great and the overseas players love to be here because it's cheap with their pounds and dollars," said Miller, who is confident SA20 has all the ingredients to become a sustainable part of the international T20 menu being offered up to fans - and players.
"It's a great place to play cricket so I'm very hopeful that it's going to be a successful first year.
"I hope we are able to gain a lot more overseas attraction that would lock in here so that they want to be a part of it," said Miller.
The six hitters
The opening SA20 season will feature six sides - all of them bought up by the owners of IPL franchises:
Durban's Super Giants (Captain: Quinton de Kock / Head Coach: Lance Klusener)
Joburg Super Kings (Captain: Faf du Plessis / Head Coach: Stephen Fleming)
Mumbai Indians Cape Town (Captain: Rashid Khan / Head Coach: Simon Katich)
Paarl Royals (Captain: David Miller / Head Coach: JP Duminy)
Pretoria Capitals (Captain: Rilee Rossouw / Head Coach: Graham Ford)
Sunrisers Eastern Cape (Captain: Aiden Markram / Head Coach: Adrian Birrell)
Each side is allowed eight overseas signings on its 17-player roster, although a maximum of four can be used in any one game.
For South African cricket fans, the much-hyped new competition is expected to provide a welcome diversion from following the fortunes of the beleaguered men's national team.
Dean Elgar's Test side was outclassed by Australia in the recent three-match series where only persistent rain during the final test in Sydney helped avoid the embarrassment of a whitewash.
"People feel like it's a dark time right now but we know the sport can change so quickly, so hopefully this competition will make people very optimistic about the future of South African cricket," said former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis who will lead the Joburg Super Kings.
The Wanderers-based outfit includes West Indian pace bowler Alzarri Joseph and Sri Lankan off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana as well as promising local quick bowler George Coetzee.
The other globally-recognised star names signed up by SA20 are former West Indies skipper Jason Holder, Jimmy Neesham of New Zealand and Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Mendis.
How it works
Before it even gets underway, the tournament will be forced to take a break between 25 January and 1 February to accommodate the rescheduled one-day international series between South Africa and England that was postponed in December 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Eight of England's 14-man squad will feature in the SA20 as will be the case with virtually all of the unnamed Proteas side, with the exception of captain Temba Bavuma who was not picked up by any of the franchises in the pre-tournament auction.
After the opening match in Cape Town, 32 more games are scheduled to be played.
The teams will play each other home and away in a group stage followed by two semi-finals and a final on 11 February hosted at Johannesburg's Wanderers Stadium.
This article originally appeared on BBC Sport
Photo: BBC