Joburg Super Kings plan to nurture Jason Rowles after R2.9 million signing

Joburg Super Kings coach Albie Morkel says the team will support Jason Rowles’ development after signing the 18-year-old for R2.9 million at the SA20 fifth-season auction.

The Johannesburg schoolboy entered the auction with a base price of R200,000. A bidding contest with MI Cape Town pushed the final fee to 14.5 times that amount, making him the highest-priced player bought at this auction.

Morkel told The Times of India that the franchise had tracked Rowles for some time, including through a scouting camp a year earlier. He said the fee exceeded his expectations but that Rowles was a player the team wanted.

The coach said the player's management team would help him handle the attention attached to the price. The franchise, he added, would give him opportunities to develop rather than treating the auction result as proof of what he would achieve.

Rowles remains a matric pupil at St David’s Marist Inanda. He is a left-handed batter who also bowls left-arm spin. His school reached the final of the first Schools SA20 competition, and he later captained the side in the second edition.

At this year's Under-19 World Cup, he scored 280 runs in five innings, averaging 70 with a strike rate of 112. His innings included 98 against Afghanistan and an unbeaten 125 against Tanzania.

In July, he scored a double century in the second Youth Test against England Under-19. That followed scores of 42, 15 and 85 in three Youth ODIs and two half-centuries in the first Youth Test.

SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith said investing in young players helps build the sport’s future. He also highlighted the South African Players’ Association’s role in financial guidance and support outside the game. The focus now turns to how Rowles develops for his local franchise.