There's only one new captain in SA20 town and he wasn't difficult to spot. Tristan Stubbs had the widest eyes and wore the biggest smile of the six skippers who held their first press engagement of season four and could not wait to reveal how he got the job at Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC).
"Before the auction, the plan was obviously to get Aiden (Markram, the former SEC captain) back but Adi (Birrell, SEC head coach) said to me that if we don't get Aiden I might have to do the job. And then we didn't get him. When Adi confirmed it to me, that's when I realised it was actually happening," Stubbs told ESPNcricinfo. "It's pretty cool. I have captained a bit at school and now I'll get the opportunity to represent and lead my province. It's cool to actually use my cricket knowledge to try and affect the game."
Birrell who also had the likes of Jonny Bairstow, stand-in South Africa ODI Matthew Breetzke and former South African captain Quinton de Kock to choose from, had very clear reasons for going for Stubbs. "He's very passionate about Sunrisers and he's a St George's Park man through and through. He will lead with passion, and he will lead with a fight," Birrell told ESPNcricinfo. "And I wanted a local captain. We've gone local with a lot of our selections because I wanted a local sort of feel."
In acquiring Breetzke, Anrich Nortje and Lutho Sipamla, SEC have folded in three players whose domestic careers started at Warriors. Along with Marco Jansen and Stubbs, they make up the homegrown contingent to whom Stubbs has already made a special request. "One challenge I have for the local boys is: let's really make sure we show the overseas boys what South Africa is all about," Stubbs says in an Instagram video shared by SEC. "Make sure we play as hard as we can on the field, but off the field, we show what our country has to offer."
In Gqeberha, where the team will spend most of their time, players can enjoy the golden beaches and good surf but it's the people Stubbs hopes they connect to most. "It's like a small, big town, so you sort of know everyone," he said. "I've sat in those stands and watched games. And I know when you go for breakfast, you see people and they talk about the game. They love the game. I feel you get a lot more support and people watch the game a lot more than at other grounds, where they might come more for the party."
He didn't say it but the people of the Eastern Cape are also known to be friendly and down-to-earth, which describes Stubbs in a nutshell, even after he emerged as the tournament's first big buy. In edition one, Stubbs got the biggest cheque from the auction, when SEC splashed R9.2 million (approx US$500,000) on him. Now, he describes that as "winning the lottery," not because of the amount of money, but because of the freedom it bought him. After becoming a Rand multimillionaire, Stubbs had the luxury of choosing to only play international cricket, the SA20 (as a CSA contracted player) and one other league: the IPL. He "prioritised rest," because he didn't need to chase paydays elsewhere.
In 2026, when South Africa have a gap from March to September, Stubbs will consider another league but only one that he believes could benefit skills more than his bank account. "After the IPL, there's three months off, so I might look somewhere, but money won't be the driver. It will be more important to play somewhere that's good for my cricket."
He hopes more young players can experience similar windfalls - and some have, when Pretoria Capitals broke SA20 spending record, splashing R16.5 million (approx US$990,000) on Dewald Brevis - so they can make informed choices about their careers too. "You can't worry about money and make good cricketing decisions," Stubbs said. "You see a lot of young guys get offered a percentage more, but to the detriment of their cricket. It's not always the wisest thing.
"You have to focus on the main thing. And the main thing is cricket. And then if you do the right things, hopefully it all falls into place. Like if a domestic player gets offered 10% more somewhere else, but he's not playing all the games, that's not a wise decision. Or someone who's just made it as an international cricketer and now goes and plays every league, and he's burnt out after a year. Those are some of the things I've seen unfold and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone."
Instead, Stubbs prefers to pick a few things and do them well. Though he hasn't had the best 2025, SEC know his quality. He was their leading run-scorer and seventh overall in the second season, also the year he scored his first two Test hundreds, his maiden ODI ton and was South Africa's second-highest T20I run-scorer.
But 2025 has brought him back down to earth. His Test returns have just about halved (259 runs in six matches this year, compared to 500 in eight games last year), though he found some form on South Africa's recent trips to the subcontinent.
Stubbs puts some of that down to his shifting role in the team as he has batted everywhere from No. 3 to 6 and the frequency with which things change from red to white-ball but feels he is close to turning it around. "It's tough chopping and changing all the formats and in that, where I am batting all the time. But I've grafted out a couple of scores now and there. It just hasn't been free-flowing. I feel I'm batting well at times so I am not too bothered."
At SEC, where he can choose his spot, he will bat at No.5, which is a position he both prefers and "will suit the team best." Birrell is confident the stability in his playing role and the additional responsibilities of captaincy will be good for Stubbs. "It might help him. It might take away from being too internal and worrying about his own form because it's about the team now," Birrell said. "And form is just a temporary thing. Everyone goes through slumps. He's a really good player, and it's a matter of time. He's doing all the right things. He's playing well in the nets. And in the practice game yesterday, he had hits afterwards."
And while he finds his way back to run-scoring, Birrell believes some of the other players and coaching staff will do their bit to ease the load. "He's very inexperienced as a captain but there are other experienced guys around him that will help him," Birrell said. "As a coaching staff, we are fairly experienced and we will help. We feel it's the right time for him to step into captaincy."
Stubbs has no problem learning from others, especially his potent attack which will be led by Nortje and Jansen. "That's going to be the best thing, an experienced bowling attack. That'll make my job easier. I'll ask them what they want, what they're thinking, and then let them do their thing, and then if they need some help or have a question, then we go from there."
Where, exactly? Stubbs doesn't know yet as he figures things out but he is looking forward to finding out. "I've played under Aiden, under Faf (du Plessis), under Temba (Bavuma) and they're all different people. Aiden's very reserved. Faf speaks very well. Temba doesn't speak much at all. I don't think I will speak much. On the field, I find it easier to talk and I will be comfortable there, but if you don't need to talk, I won't talk," Stubbs said. "You have to be your own person and find your own way."