The latest team to be announced as part of Cricket South Africa’s T20 Global League is the Stellenbosch Monarchs. The announcement was made on Friday morning via the T20 Global League’s social media accounts.
The Stellenbosch Monarchs were announced as the newest team to join the T20 Global League. PHOTO: Twitter
South Africa’s test and T20 International captain, Faf du Plessis was named as the side’s marquee player earlier this year. Du Plessis said that he is “privileged to represent this team”.
The latest franchise also announced signings as part of the team’s backroom staff. Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming was announced as the couch and South African Eric Simons as his assistant.
Fleming expressed his excitement via Twitter by saying that he is looking forward to “starting something great with the Monarchs”.
Really looking forward to getting back to Africa and starting something great with the monarchs. Will be an outstanding tournament. https://t.co/hN27eVgkMy
— Stephen Fleming (@SPFleming7) August 18, 2017
The Monarchs will play their home matches at Boland Park in Paarl. The logo shows one of the area’s most defining features, the mountains, protected by a crown.
The logo of the newly unveiled Stellenbosch Monarchs. PHOTO: Twitter
According to the Twitter page of the Monarchs, the burgundy and blue pay homage the winemaking and the blue skies, and the cyan and gold add energy and vibrancy.
Please give a royal Winelands welcome to the Stellenbosch Monarchs! Join us for this T20GL global cricket extravaganza. #SBMonarchs #T20GL pic.twitter.com/zgJFKgZF4v
— SB Kings (@SBKingsZA) August 18, 2017
Brimstone Investment Corporation Limited was originally confirmed as the owner of the franchise, but have since dropped out of the running. The franchise is currently open to new ownership.
The locations for the other teams in the competition are: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, Stellenbosch and Bloemfontein.
To date, only five teams have confirmed their names, logos and colours.
One of the first teams to be announced was Cape Town Knight Riders. The owner, Shah Rukh Khan, owns the original Knight Riders franchise, the Kolkata Knight Riders of the Indian Premier League. He also owns the Trinbago Knight Riders who take part in the Caribbean Premier League.
The other three teams to have been announced are the Bloem City Blazers, the Jo’burg Giants, the Durban Qalanders, and now, the Stellenbosch Monarchs.
The tournament will begin in November 2017. – Tom Stapylton-Smith