Tristan Stubbs, the local boy, was one of the five retained members for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape ahead of the SA20 auction. Even though the Sunrisers got the likes of Quinton de Kock and Marco Jansen, the team management decided to go with Stubbs, who will have some big shoes to fill.
The 25-year-old South African batter Tristan Stubbs will lead the Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) going forward, as confirmed by the batting coach Russell Domingo, replacing two-time SA20-winning captain Aiden Markram. Markram was snapped up by the Durban’s Super Giants (DSG) for a whopping sum of R14m (Rs 7.05 cr) and is likely to lead the Kingsmead franchise. While the Sunrisers did get seniors Quinton de Kock, Lewis Gregory and had the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Marco Jansen in the fold, the management decided to put their faith in the youngster and local boy, Stubbs.
“I did get the clearance from the owners and from Adi to announce that Tristan Stubbs will be leading the Sunrisers going forward,” Domingo said during one of the mid-auction chats. “He’s a local boy, I think he loves nothing more than playing for the Sunrisers and for the Warriors back in Port Elizabeth. So, really excited to work with him over the next couple of seasons and we know he is going to do a magnificent job,” he added after the SA20 2026 auction. Later, the franchise confirmed on its social media handles as well.
The Sunrisers probably had the best auction among six teams, as they balanced big names with the gaps they needed to fill and managed to get most of the players they wanted. Having Bairstow already in the squad, the signings of de Kock and red-hot Matthew Breetzke will only strengthen the top order. Stubbs, Jordan Hermann, James Coles, Patrick Kruger and Jansen will complete the rest of the batting line-up, with Senuran Muthusamy leading the spin department alongside AM Ghazanfar.
Jansen, Anrich Nortje, Adam Milne, and Lutho Sipamla will round up the pace attack with the King brothers and English T20 veterans Chris Wood and Lewis Gregory as backups. It will be a slightly new setup for the Sunrisers, but under Adi Birrell, the Eastern Cape have been the most successful team of the competition, having made the final in all three seasons and would want to continue the same run in the fourth edition.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape squad for SA20 2026: Tristan Stubbs (c), Marco Jansen, Quinton de Kock, Matthew Breetzke, Anrich Nortje, Jonny Bairstow, AM Ghazanfar, Adam Milne, Senuran Muthusamy, Patrick Kruger, Lutho Sipamla, Jordan Hermann, James Coles, Chris Wood, Lewis Gregory, Mitchell van Buuren, Beyers Swanepoel, CJ King, JP King