For the 2025 season, South Africa batsman David Bedingham, England opener Zak Crawley, fast bowler Craig Overton, and Netherlands all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe have all been signed by Sunrisers Eastern Cape, the reigning SA20 winners.
Having made his debut in December 2023, Bedingham is among the more recent additions to the South African squad. After making a half-century in his nation’s opening innings, he rose to the top of the Test cricket draft rankings. Earlier this year, Bedingham opted for the longer format over the SA20 and embarked on a tour of New Zealand with a reserve team. In 63 T20 matches, he has amassed 1375 runs at a strike rate of 135.06 and an average of 22.17.
Although Zak Crawley has played in T20 competitions before, having represented the Hobart Hurricanes and Perth Scorchers in the BBL, Kent in the T20 Blast, and London Spirit in the Hundred, this will be his debut season in the SA20.
Although he has only played in eight One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and has not yet made his debut for England in the shorter format, he is a key member of their Test side, opening the batting and being renowned for his expansive strokeplay and high strike rate. Crawley has a strike percentage of 134.77 with 1771 runs scored across 76 T20s.
Crawley declared, “I’ve always wanted to be a good white-ball player.” “I’m trying to add a few more strokes to my repertoire, but I think this is a pretty good fit for me and I’ve done well when I’ve played T20 cricket in the past. I’m working hard in the nets, attempting a few new things, in an attempt to try to add a little more power to my game and hopefully hit more and bigger sixes.”
Crawley and England have a busy cricket schedule ahead of them, as ESPNcricinfo revealed this week. The men’s squad has 16 series, including the 2025 Champions Trophy, planned over the next two years. Nonetheless, England has a competitive edge over most of their opponents because most franchise T20 competitions take place in the off-season, giving players unrestricted opportunity to grow and earn.
Van der Merwe, who was a member of the Sunrisers during the inaugural SA20 season in 2022–2023—has also returned. With 20 wickets that year, the left-arm spinning all-rounder shared first place in the wicket-taking charts despite having a 5.62 economy rate. In the Wanderers final, he made a significant impact by going 4 for 31 against the Pretoria Capitals to win Player of the Match. In addition, he has the best stats in SA20 history, going 6 for 20 against the Super Giants of Durban in Gqeberha.
This will be Overton’s first venture into an international T20 league with the SA20. The 30-year-old fast bowler has played in 102 matches, all of which have taken place in England. In Twenty20 cricket, Overton has claimed 106 wickets at an average of 26.21 and an economy rate of 8.56.
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