Rumbling along for more than 18 months, Cricket South Africa's (CSA) attempt at a global, franchise-based Twenty20 tournament has become one of the costliest and most convoluted issues in the organisation's history. From the original launch, through a player draft for a league that never happened, expensive payouts, boardroom fallouts and reshuffles, legal wrangles and a second attempt, we've plotted a timeline to help make sense of how CSA's bold play at moving into the T20 big leagues went awry.
January 2017
CSA seeks ICC approval for the launch of the T20 Global League, a tournament designed to replicate the success of leagues like IPL and BBL.
February 2017
CSA announces the league, and a worldwide tender for franchise owners with a deadline of March 3.
March 9 2017
CSA reports over 150 expressions of interest in owning teams, with more than a third coming from India.
June 19 2017
CSA officially launches the league at the Bulgari hotel in London. Eight franchises unveiled, with two IPL and two PSL owners on board. Faf du Plessis says the new league is the "best way" to keep players from leaving South Africa.
August 14 2017
Brimstone Investment Corporation Ltd pulls out as owner of the Stellenbosch Monarchs franchise, leaving no local owners for any franchise.
August 26 2017
Draft held in Cape Town. Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Dwayne Bravo and Eoin Morgan are among the marquee players.
September 8 2017
Indian movie star and Kings XI co-owner Preity Zinta takes over Stellenbosch Monarchs, taking the number of IPL owners to three.
September 13 2017
CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat hints that SuperSport, Africa's biggest sports broadcaster, may be the only viable broadcast partner as concerns over a TV deal mount.
September 28 2017
Lorgat parts ways with CSA over "untenable differences" in the handling of the league. CSA President Chris Nenzani suggests that the issues between Lorgat and the CSA board began in January, and came to a head at a board meeting on May 13.
October 6 2017
CSA acting CEO Thabang Moroe says a loss of USD 25 million is likely from the inaugural edition, more than half of CSA's cash reserves, but promises it will go ahead.
October 10 2017
With no broadcast deal or title sponsor secured three weeks before the scheduled start, CSA announces the postponement of the tournament. The South African Cricketers Association calls for an "independent review", and later South African players are paid out 60% of their contract value and foreign players 50%.
November-December 2017
South Africa's domestic T20 competition is moved into the window left vacant by the postponement, with SuperSport - who already hold rights to all cricket played in South Africa - in place as the broadcaster.
March 2018
Hiren Bhanu, a UK-based businessman and owner of Pretoria Mavericks, proposes to pay CSA USD 70 million to own and run the T20 league for 11 years. CSA turn down the offer.
March 13 2018
CSA holds a teleconference with franchise owners, where it is decided that CSA will go back to SuperSport to discuss either a proposal on the original model, an alternative model, or one involving a league co-owned by CSA, owners and the broadcaster.
June 8 2018
CSA announces a new tournament to take place in November and December. The tournament is not named, but CSA will be the majority shareholder and SuperSport part-owners. Details around the number of teams, matches and allowances for overseas players are thin, but it becomes clear that none of the eight team owners from the GLT20 will be involved.
June 20 2018
CSA begin giving back the deposits paid by the GLT20 team to reimburse them for expenses incurred in planning for the tournament, but Qalandars CEO Sameen Rana weighs up legal options, saying: "We simply need CSA to respect the agreements around the awarding of the franchise to us, which they themselves have given to us in perpetuity. I do not agree to this refund as condition to give up my rights so we will challenge CSA via legal [proceedings]."
June 26 2018
Moroe says CSA believes it is "in a partnership" with the former franchise owners and "would ideally like to retain the relationship in case there's an opportunity in selling equity in teams" but the threat of a messy legal battle builds.
July 17 2018
Moroe admits there are "issues of trust" with previous team owners, says that CSA has "signed an equity model" with SuperSport, giving the broadcaster a 49% share while scrapping the privately-owned franchise model.
July 31 2018
CSA announces that the revived T20 league will have only six teams, making it impossible to hold on to all the former owners. Moroe does not elaborate on how CSA plans to solve this new dilemma.
August 13 2018
CSA representatives fly to Dubai and Mumbai for four days of heated meetings with franchise owners, who demand the 49% share held by SuperSport be handed over to them. Seven of the eight owners - all except Cape Town Knight Riders who excused themselves from the meetings - want first option to buy into a new league, given their involvement in the previous one. Hiren Bhanu intends to stop any new league from going ahead without the original franchise owners.
August 17 2018
South Africa's stadiums are asked to submit bids to host a team in the new T20 tournament. The six venues will correspond to the six teams.
August 20 2018
South African sports minister Tokozile Xasa is asked to consider issuing a moratorium which would prevent CSA from issuing any announcements on a new T20 tournament until plans for the event have been scrutinised by a parliamentary committee.
August 20 2018
SuperSport pull out of their equity deal with CSA, leaving the organisation without an outside shareholder while seemingly reopening the option for the franchises to be privately owned. SuperSport remain interested in broadcasting the event.
August 24 2018
CSA sets a deadline of mid-September for a decision on whether or not the league will be staged in the 2018-19 season. The board suggests the tournament could be owned and run completely in-house.
September 8 2018
CSA's members' council votes unanimously to launch a T20 league this year. It will include six teams, consist of a 30-match league phase, an eliminator match and a final, and will be played from November 9 to December 16. Sponsors and a broadcaster are not named, though it is expected that SuperSport will broadcast the games.
September 25, 2018
CSA relaunches T20 tournament - calling it the "T20 Cricket League" - in partnership with South Africa's state-owned broadcaster SABC.