Jason Rowles has become the most expensive signing at the SA20 2027 player auction after Joburg Super Kings paid R2.9 million for the 18-year-old all-rounder who has represented South Africa Under-19, according to Wisden’s report published on 8 October. The deal places Rowles ahead of Faf du Plessis and Wiaan Mulder in the auction spending list, despite Rowles having played only one T20 match.
Wisden reported that MI Cape Town opened the bidding at Rowles’ base price of R200,000 before Joburg entered the contest and eventually secured him. The final figure was R2.7 million higher than his starting price. On a straightforward comparison, that is 14.5 times the base price, showing the scale of the increase from his listed starting figure.
Rowles’ rise has been rapid. Wisden reported that he represented St David’s Marist in the Schools SA20 Finals, where the side finished runners-up in the competition’s first edition, before he captained the school in the 2025 edition. The Schools SA20 competition was launched by SA20 and Cricket South Africa in 2024 to identify and develop young players, according to the report.
Rowles’ price was R200,000 above the R2.7 million paid by Joburg for Du Plessis and R300,000 above the R2.6 million spent by MI Cape Town on Mulder, Wisden reported. Kieron Pollard, Shimron Hetmyer, Trent Boult and Craig Overton were each listed at R1.5 million, meaning Rowles’ fee was R1.4 million greater than the next group of major purchases.
Rowles’ Under-19 record
Wisden reported that Rowles had been South Africa’s leading run-scorer at this year’s Under-19 World Cup, making 280 runs in five innings. His tournament included 98 from 93 balls against Afghanistan and an unbeaten 125 from 101 deliveries against Tanzania.
The report said Rowles has played 24 youth one-day internationals, averaging 42.75 at a strike rate of 93.54, with two centuries. Those figures and his World Cup returns provide the substantial body of batting evidence cited before the auction, rather than a lengthy T20 record.
The report said he had also made an impression during South Africa Under-19’s tour of England in July. Rowles recorded scores of 42, 15 and 85 in three youth one-day internationals, while his left-arm orthodox spin returned figures of 3-20 in the first match. In the second youth Test at Hove, he made a double century after scoring fifties in both innings of the opening match.
His record cited in the available report is principally from Under-19 and emerging cricket, which may help explain the interest. Wisden reported that Rowles’ only T20 outing came two days before the auction, when he made an unbeaten 45 from 31 balls at number four for SA Emerging Players against Western Province in the CSA Pro20 Cup. He has also played five List A matches, with a highest score of 60.
Wisden said that List A high score came against KwaZulu-Natal Inland in the CSA Provincial One Day Challenge 2024/25 Division Two. The reported progression from Schools SA20 to Under-19 and emerging cricket came before a price that exceeded those paid for Du Plessis and Mulder.
Joburg’s other auction additions
Wisden described Joburg as the auction’s most active team and reported that it added several players alongside Rowles. Du Plessis returned to the Super Kings for R2.7 million, while Pollard joined for R1.5 million. The franchise also acquired Blessing Muzarabani for R500,000, Andries Gous for R1 million and Dayyaan Galiem for R375,000, before naming Jamie Overton as a wildcard selection.
Those purchases gave Joburg the auction’s two highest-priced players in Rowles and Du Plessis. Among its other listed purchases, the fees ranged from R375,000 for Galiem to R2.7 million for Du Plessis, underlining the scale of the investment in Rowles.
The post-auction squad list includes Leus du Plooy, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein and James Vince alongside Rowles, according to Wisden’s post-auction squad list.
Wisden reported that the 2027 SA20 is scheduled to start on 17 January at St George’s Park in Gqeberha, with Sunrisers Eastern Cape due to play Pretoria Capitals. The final is scheduled for 21 February at Newlands in Cape Town.