Can festive window take SA20 to the next level?

The first time was an experiment, the second confirmed the SA20's success, the third time was the charm and now, as the fourth edition of the tournament is upon us, it's become routine.The SA20 is here to stay and we all know it.

This time it will be played not just in prime summer but also in the festive window, which is why we need to start by addressing the elephant in the room: has the SA20 stolen Test cricket?

Emphatically: No!

The only reason the SA20 has been advanced is because South Africa had this gap in the schedule from when the current FTP was decided in 2022. There was also sound reasoning for it: Cricket South Africa (CSA) wanted a sparse summer to adequately prepare for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Though the SA20 uses up some calendar time, it's only a month long and has allowed for upgrades to continue. Around the country, grounds are being spruced up, many have new floodlights as a visible improvement, and drop-in pitches are being prepared. Some of those surfaces will be used next summer - an eight-Test cricketing feast - a whole year before the World Cup in the hope of avoiding what happened last year in Nassau County, where the strip was not up to standard.

You could even argue that the SA20 has strengthened the Test team as it forced South Africa to make careful plans around the format including how much they will play (not much in the last cycle for financial reasons) and how they will select squads. Since effectively forfeiting their matches in New Zealand last February because of clashes with the SA20, South Africa have not lost a series, have won the World Test Championship, and swept India in India.

So while there may be nostalgic reasons to lament the lack of festive Tests, it's worth remembering that the occasion here is not the same as it is at the MCG (which this year will host a dead rubber) and that the Boxing Day Test is rarely, if ever, sold out. But game one of the SA20, which will be played on December 26, certainly is.

It helps that it's at Newlands, where the MI Cape Town faithful packed the stadium for all of last season's home games, and tournament director Graeme Smith is understandably a little nervous for how things may go in the rest of the country. While the coastal venues can hope for holiday crowds, the two Highveld venues - the Wanderers and SuperSport Park - may discover that fans are away for the opening stages of the tournament.

There is a strong possibility Smith's trepidation is misplaced as the evidence is that the SA20 is well-attended. It is the only domestic tournament in South Africa that has attracted sustained support, across each season and for the duration of each one. The only matches that have been challenging to get spectators in for are the knockouts, chiefly because the venues are decided in advance and the home team may not be playing. This year, Qualifier 1 will take place in Durban, the Eliminator in Centurion, and Qualifier 2 in Johannesburg. The final will be held at Newlands, and all three finals have so far been sold out.

More concerning for Smith and co, and equally out of their control, is the competitiveness of the tournament. Last season, only six out of 30 group-stage matches and one of the four knockouts were won by margins tighter than or equal to 10 runs or six balls to spare. That number needs to grow in order to keep interest high, especially in a calendar that continues to fill up.

And that is what the SA20 will be most relieved about: it is already on the map in an increasingly clustered environment. Next year, the first season of the semi-privatised Hundred (with several teams co-owned by IPL franchises) will be played, there is talk of privatisation in the BBL, and New Zealand are considering a franchise league too. All these are competitors, especially those in the southern hemisphere, but because the SA20 is established, Smith believes it already has an advantage. "Everyone now realises that franchise cricket is going to have a prominent place in the future, hence the Hundred and CA are looking at how they can be part of it," Smith said at the captains' press conference on Tuesday. "For us, it's about making sure that we dominate the January-February window and make sure we are the prominent league in that window."

He has long talked up the SA20 ahead of the ILT20 for what it has done for local players and the exposure it has given them to elite level cricket, and he did that again ahead of season four, in which many squads are all-change after the tournament's first major auction. "Over three seasons, the South African player base has grown stronger every year," Smith said. "Always having the national players available was key but the tier below is really developing nicely and that really lifts the standard of the game. Chatting to some of the internationals like Trent Boult, the feedback you get is that they feel there's a real international atmosphere and then the quality of the local players is something they were really surprised with."

Those local players will include the record buy of the competition, Dewald Brevis, who was signed by the Pretoria Capitals for R16.5 million (approx USD 990,000), and Rand millionaires including Rassie van der Dussen, Matthew Breetzke, Quinton de Kock, Senuran Muthusamy, Jordan Hermann, Wiaan Mulder, Nandre Burger, Prenelan Subrayen, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Lizaad Williams, Bryce Parsons, Ottneil Baartman, Delano Potgieter, Kyle Verreynne, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, Gerald Coetzee and Eathan Bosch. Some of those names will be familiar but others like Hermann and Bosch could seize the opportunity to make a case for national selection.

They'll be mixing it with some of the biggest international names, mainly West Indians such as Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Shai Hope, Andre Russell and Sherfane Rutherford, though their availability this season is limited by the ILT20 and a West Indies series against Afghanistan from mid-January. Among the other headline international stars are Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Kane Williamson, Boult, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and Eshan Malinga. The names are high-profile enough, even without Indian participation (and Dinesh Karthik is not present this season) to attract global interest.

Worldwide broadcast and ample sponsorship mean the SA20 has everything it needs to justify its claim that it is the world's second-biggest league behind the IPL. Perhaps its next chapter is about maintaining that.