England’s planned Twenty20 series in South Africa next January has been scrapped owing to a clash with the domestic SA20 tournament in the latest indication of the growing primacy of franchise cricket.
The Guardian revealed earlier this month that the white-ball leg of England’s tour was under threat as a result of a scheduling clash with SA20, which was due to run from 9 January until 14 February 2027.
England will play three Tests in Johannesburg, Centurion and Cape Town in December and January, which were due to be followed by three T20s and three one-day internationals, but in a full schedule announced on Monday the shorter white-ball games have been removed from the itinerary.
Confirmation of the schedule follows weeks of negotiations between the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA), which has agreed to delay the start of SA20 to squeeze in three ODIs between 10 and 15 January. As a result of SA20 having already booked South Africa’s major venues however, the ODIs will take place in smaller grounds at Paarl and Bloemfontein.
Abandoning the T20 series was seen as the best solution by both parties to ensure at least one competitive series will take place, with the ODIs prioritised as the 50-over World Cup takes place in October and November 2027, co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The timing of SA20 has caused problems for international cricket before, with South Africa sending a reserve team to New Zealand for a Test series two years ago, an undesirable outcome they were eager to avoid repeating.
During this month’s discussions, the ECB rejected a request from CSA to split the tour and play the white-ball games in February after SA20 is completed, as England’s Test side are due to tour Bangladesh during that same period.
With three T20s removed from the draft schedule, CSA is likely to face demands for rebates from its major domestic and international broadcast partners, SuperSport and Sky Sports.
