Photo Credit: SA20.

Schools cricket in South Africa is set for a major boost with SA20 and Rain joining forces to launch the Rain SA20 Derby Series, while extending their partnership to the national Rain Schools SA20 competition.

The new Derby Series will feature standalone fixtures between 26 leading cricket schools, adding a new dimension to a school’s cricket landscape already strengthened by the national Schools SA20 competition.

The Rain Schools SA20 season gets under way this week, with more than 500 schools from across the country competing in the boys’ and girls’ competitions.

The national tournament provides a pathway to the top, progressing from provincial to regional champions before culminating in the Rain Schools SA20 Finals Weekend, where the country’s best young teams will compete for national honours.

Defending boys’ champions Jeppe High School for Boys and girls’ champions Queen’s High School will return hoping to retain their titles.

The prize extends beyond silverware, with SA20 and the South African Cricketers’ Association providing full scholarships for a Grade 7 boy and girl from the winning schools. The scholarships cover school fees, hostel costs and additional expenses.

The new Rain SA20 Derby Series, meanwhile, is designed to celebrate the rivalry and tradition surrounding school cricket.

Featuring 26 schools, the series will consist of standalone home and away fixtures in alternate years. Some matchups have decades of history behind them, while others bring together schools through the strength of their current cricket programmes.

There is no league table or cumulative title race. Each fixture stands alone, with the focus firmly on school pride, community and the occasion.

The inaugural fixture will see Menlopark host Waterkloof in a day and night clash on Tuesday, 22 September.

SA20 Commissioner Graeme Smith said the two competitions would serve different but complementary purposes.

“Rain Schools SA20 and the Rain SA20 Derby Series do very different jobs, and it’s worth being clear about that distinction,” Smith said.

“Rain Schools SA20 is a national pathway — it finds and develops the country’s best young players and crowns one champion each season. The Rain SA20 Derby Series is something else entirely: it’s about giving a school and its community a day they’ll talk about for years, built on pride and mutual respect rather than a table or a trophy.”

For Rain CEO Conrad Leigh, the partnership provides an opportunity to connect with young players and supporters from the beginning of their cricket journey. “Cricket fans already associate Rain with the Betway SA20, so extending that relationship into schools cricket felt like a natural next step for us,” Leigh said.

“We backed Rain Schools SA20 because of what it does for the next generation of players. The Rain Derby Series gives us something different to be part of , some of these fixtures have been played for generations, others are brand new, but every one of them means something to the schools and communities involved.”

The Derby Series matches will be broadcast live on SuperSport Schools Channel 216 on DStv, the Schools SA20 YouTube channel and SABC+.

With elite competition on one side and historic school rivalries on the other, the partnership aims to make schools cricket about more than results: it is about developing future players while creating occasions that bring entire communities together.