Cricket South Africa will receive help from some of BCCI's senior administrators in running their new T20 cricket league, CSA's chief executive Thabang Moroe has announced.
"I am delighted to announce that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has accepted our invitation to make some of their senior administrators, who have extensive experience in running the Indian Premier League (IPL), available to assist with the smooth running of our tournament," said Moroe. "Their experience will be invaluable and will assist in ensuring that the League is one of international standing."
CSA also divulged details around team composition and the competition format, as well as the bidding process, which will decide the six venues. Each franchise's squads will have 16 players, with a minimum of three and a maximum of four overseas players. Any Kolpak-contracted South African will be regarded as overseas players for the event. The bidding process will be decided by a bid "open to all ICC-accredited CSA Members that will include an independent analysis by an appropriate consultancy firm", and no venue will host more than one team.
The CSA board unanimously approved the six-team format, which would appear to put them on a collision course with previous franchise owners of the original, eight-team event. Some former owners are either considering or pursuing legal action against CSA, who have also recently changed attorneys from Mota Attorneys to Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs, Africa's largest law firm.
The announcements came as CSA took a further step forward, a day after announcing public broadcaster SABC as their exclusive broadcast partner for the event, towards the realisation of the T20 league originally pitched early last year by opening applications from South African and overseas players interested in participating in the SA T20 League.
The closing date for players to register is October 2, and the player draft will take place on October 17. The inaugural edition of the league will run during the last quarter of 2018, with the tournament starting on November 9 and culminating in the final on December 16.
Moroe suggested that CSA are hoping to retain the marquee players - the likes of Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Dwayne Bravo and Eoin Morgan - who were part of the original draft for the first, postponed edition of the league last year.
"The time is now right for us to register players who would like to participate in our League," said Moroe. "We will be seeking to secure the services of the foreign and South African marquee players who were recruited for the previous league on two-year contracts. In addition, subject to our international commitments, all the Proteas-contracted players are expected to participate in most of the League.
"Any unavailability of Proteas players only affects the first few days of the league when the Proteas will be involved in their limited-overs tour to Australia which finishes with the T20 match on November 17."