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Cape Town - The launch of T20 Global League has not been plain sailing for Cricket South Africa (CSA).
When plans were unveiled earlier in the year for an eight-team mega-tournament to come to South Africa, the idea was met with scepticism, based largely on the fact that there appeared limited time.
Franchise owners needed to be secured, government needed to buy in, players needed to be secured and it all needed to happen in a few months.
It seemed a big ask but now, with just three months to go, the tournament is set to take a major step towards being a functioning product when the player draft takes place in Cape Town this weekend.
There was a stumbling block when Brimstone Investment boss Mustaq Brey, who was due to take ownership of the Stellenbosch franchise, pulled out of the tournament earlier this month.
That bombshell has forced CSA to take ownership of the franchise for the time-being, but if they get through the weekend with all eight franchises having secured their squads of 18, then that will go a long way towards restoring confidence in the tournament.
Each franchise has already been allocated a marquee Proteas signing, and at a function on Saturday night the eight marquee international players will also be allocated a franchise.
That will leave space for 16 other players, and they will all be determined at Sunday's draft.
With each franchise operating within the same financial boundaries - they all have the same money to spend - there will be an opportunity for each side to have the first choice as 16 rounds of bidding take place.
CSA last week confirmed last week that five overseas-based players can be included in a squad of 18, and Kolpak players will be considered international players.
That ensures that the likes of Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw, if picked, would not keep a South African-based player out of that squad.
Sport24 understands that a pool of around 90 international players will be available for recruitment while around 200 domestic players will be considered.
With the marquee players already identified, Sunday will only see a further 32 international players and 96 local players given an opportunity to play in the tournament.
