Leading England players lined up for second season of SA20

CAPE TOWN : Nine English players have so far confirmed they will be spending the northern hemisphere winter in the blazing sunshine of South Africa for the second season of the SA20 league, which starts in January 2024, officials confirmed on Thursday.

England's limited overs captain Jos Buttler, the top run-scorer in last season’s inaugural competition, will return for a second campaign with Paarl Royals, who share the same owners as his Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals.

Sam Curran, Liam Livingston and Tom Banton have all signed for Mumbai Indians Cape Town, but Jofra Archer will, at this stage, not return to the side for a second season as he battles with injury.

MI Cape Town will be captained once again by Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan and have also retained fast bowler Kagiso Rabada.

Moeen Ali will spend a second year with the Joburg Super Kings, having also played for their sister IPL side from Chennai. He is joined by seamer Sam Cook.

Reece Topley will play for Durban Super Giants, while defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape have signed Dawid Malan and Liam Dawson.

The 2023 edition proved a huge success for Cricket South Africa in terms of commercial, broadcast and fan interest, and league commissioner and former South Africa captain Graeme Smith has said he expects the competition to "go from strength to strength over the next number of years".