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Five Schools SA20 alumni named on SA20 Season 5 Player Auction shortlist
Five players who have played in rain Schools SA20 are among the 156 names shortlisted for the SA20 Season 5 Player Auction on Wednesday, 7 October 2026.
Bishops Diocesan College's James Robb-Quinlan and Michael Kruiskamp, St David's Marist Inanda's Jason Rowles, St Andrew's School Bloemfontein's FG Botha and Paul Roos Gimnasium's Janko Webb were all shortlisted from 789 applications. They'll be in the pool as the franchises compete for 19 open slots with a combined purse of up to R35.025m.
Bishops' champions
Robb-Quinlan captained Bishops to the national title in Schools SA20 Volume 1 (2024-25). The wicketkeeper-batter was named Player of the Tournament after the Final Showdown in Pretoria – a fitting finale to his school career.
Bishops Diocesan College old boy, James Robb-Quinlan captained his alma mater to national honours in Schools SA20 Volume 1
His Bishops teammate Kruiskamp has moved up quickly since then. On the back of helping Bishops reach Phase 2 of Volume 2 (2025-26), the left-arm quick played for South Africa at the 2026 ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup and made his senior provincial debut last month for Western Province while still in matric.
Rowles in the U23 race
Rowles, meanwhile, finished on the losing side in the Volume 1 national final with St David's, then captained the school in Volume 2. Over the same period, the left-hand batter and left-arm orthodox spinner has been a leader in the SA Under-19 side and was vice-captain at the World Cup earlier this year. Rowles is one of the names expected to compete for the two Under-23 slots, which the league says will be "hotly contested".
Jason Rowles, St David's Marist Inanda outgoing captain, will be available in the 2026 SA20 Player Auction
Spirit and promise
Erstwhile St Andrew's Bloemfontein batter, Botha played his part as the school won the Spirit of Cricket award at the finals tournament of both previous editions of Schools SA20.
Webb, 15, is the youngest player on the Auction shortlist. Whatever happens on 7 October, the Paul Roos Gimnasium player is still eligible for a few more editions of Schools SA20, where he will try help his Stellenbosch-based school past Paarl Boys and Paarl Gim who have claimed Boland's Phase 2 places in both editions to date.
A pathway taking shape
The abovementioned quintet will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of JJ Basson (Paarl Royals) and Bayanda Majola (Pretoria Capitals) who became the first Schools SA20 to SA20 graduates at last year’s auction, while England youth star Thomas Rew played for St Stithians Boys’ College in Volume 1 before being signed up as a replacement player by Royals in Season 4 (and retained for the upcoming fifth edition of SA20).
Bayanda Majola and JJ Basson were signed by Pretoria Capitals and Paarl Royals respectively at the 2025 Player Auction.
The SA20 Season 5 Player Auction will be broadcast live on SuperSport and the SA20 YouTube channel.
