In advance of the SA20 2024 Auction, Paarl Royals select all-arounder Fabian Allen as their wildcard pick.

Nationwide, September 25, 2023: In advance of the SA20 2024 Auction, which will take place on September 27, 2023, in Johannesburg, the Royals Sports Group-owned team Paarl Royals revealed on Monday that they had pre-signed West Indies all-rounder Fabian Allen as a Wildcard pick. With the agreement, the Boland Park-based club will enter the Auction with 16 pre-signed and retained players, including players like David Miller, Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Lungi Ngidi, and Tabraiz Shamsi, who together make up a solid core of seasoned international players.

The newly acquired player, 28-year-old Jamaican Allen, joins fellow West Indian Obed McCoy at the Paarl Royals. Allen made an impression during the CPL’s just finished season with the Jamaica Tallawahs with his noteworthy at-bat exploits.

For the West Indies, Allen made his T20I debut in 2018 and has since played in 34 matches, taking 24 wickets for an economy rate of 7.43 while also impressing with a strike rate of 176.8 in the past five CPL overs.

The Royals’ director of cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, had this to say about the Wildcard signing: “Fabian is an all-round player who offers us depth in both batting and bowling and is a livewire in the field. Given the versatility he provides to this team and the fact that he has participated in numerous T20 tournaments around the globe, we are happy to have him in the roster.

The Royals previously kept domestic talent like batter Mitchell van Buuren, all-rounder Ferisco Adams, pacers Codi Yusuf and Evan Jones, as well as South African batters David Miller, spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Bjorn Fortuin, pacer Lungi Ngidi, all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo, top-order batter Wihan Lubbe, and wicket-keeper batter Dane Vilas.

Jos Buttler, who led England to victory in the T20 World Cup and finished as the tournament’s leading scorer, English opener Jason Roy, and West Indian seamer Obed McCoy were also revealed as pre-signed players by the team. Kwena Maphaka, a highly regarded 17-year-old pacer who was uncapped and the youngest player ever to be signed at SA20, was also acquired by the Royals.

The 16-player Paarl Royals team that the franchise has pre-signed and kept before the auction is listed below: