Several South African cricketers are effectively overpriced for this week’s player draft for the Hundred – the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new limited-overs tournament. Some, however, would be veritable steals if drafted for next year’s inaugural tournament.

Unlike fast bowler Kagiso Rabada and others, these five players didn’t register with hefty reserve prices and are arguably more attractive options.

Rassie van der Dussen

• Van der Dussen has enjoyed a belated but superb arrival to the Proteas’ ODI and T20I units, averaging 70- and 30-plus in each format, respectively. Of the 22 South Africans who didn’t register with a base price, his is probably the most surprising. On the face of it, the talismanic right-hander could ask for more than, say, Temba Bavuma or JP Duminy.

Heinrich Klaasen

• Klaasen’s Proteas stock haven’t as risen as quickly as many anticipated. He remains on the fringes of the Test and limited-overs XI. Meanwhile, he’s forging a niche on the global T20 market, though, and recently became the first South African to score a ton in the Global T20 Canada. His experience for the Toronto Nationals was complemented by a second stint in the Indian Premier League earlier this year.

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Keshav Maharaj

• Maharaj is sidelined by injury at the moment, having hurt a shoulder during the Proteas’ second Test against India in Pune last week. He will have recovered in time for The Hundred, though, and could draw on the experience he gained with Yorkshire during the T20 Blast at venues such as Edgbaston, Headingley and Trent Bridge.

Ryan Rickelton

• Rickelton opened the batting alongside Chris Gayle in last year’s inaugural Mzansi Super League and boasts an understanding of the global cricket landscape unlike many others. ‘If you can build up a brand, a positive brand that people will want to be associated with, it will bring results for you. At the end of the day, the performance dictates your brand in a way, and it can tell who you are as a cricketer. I would say brand value is important in cricket and it’s not something to neglect,’ he told SA Cricket magazine recently. And, uncapped at Proteas level, he probably won’t cost as much as some of his international peers.

Sisanda Magala

• Magala was picked as early as the third round during September’s player draft for this year’s MSL. The Cape Town Blitz purchased the Warriors seamer for a whopping R750,000, after seeing something in him many others didn’t or still don’t. Perhaps this intangible appeal won’t be lost on one of the eight The Hundred franchises either.

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