Sunfoil Series

Cricket in South Africa was established by the British, and the first tour by a side from England took place in 1888-89. The following summer, the Currie Cup was established as a domestic competition. The trophy was donated by and named after Sir Donald Currie. An earlier competition, the Champion Bat Tournament, was established in 1876 and played on five occasions, generally between towns from the major settlements in the Cape. Only the final edition of the Champion Bat was accorded first-class status, contested by Eastern Province, Griqualand West, and Western Province during the 1890–91 season.

The inaugural competition, in 1889–90, consisted of a single match between Kimberley and Transvaal. In this match, Bernard Tancred (106), for Kimberley and Monty Bowden (126*), for Transvaal, both in the second innings, scored the first centuries in Currie Cup cricket. In the first innings of the same match, George Glover took 6/50 for Kimberley. The following season saw a rematch between Kimberley and Transvaal; Charlie Finlason scored 154* for Kimberley, and John Piton took 13/204 for Transvaal in the match. Each team won one of these initial two encounters.

Between then and the First World War, the competition expanded. Kimberley (who became known as Griqualand West for the 1892-93 season) and Transvaal were joined by Western Province (1892–93), Natal, Eastern Province (both 1893-94), Border (1897–98) and Orange Free State (1903–04) — although not all of these teams competed in every season after they were established. Rhodesia and South Western Districts also competed on a once-off basis in the 1904-05 season.

The Currie Cup was not contested every year, and a total of fourteen seasons were contested between inception and the First World War. Aside from a recess during the Boer War, typically seasons were not held when the English team was touring. The tournament took on several different formats, including a knock-out tournament, and a round robin followed by a challenge final against the previous year's winner; but in 1906-07, a round robin league format was established, which would be unchanged until 1982-83.

First class cricket recommenced after the war in the 1920-21 season. The series continued to be held roughly two out of every three years, being cancelled during seasons which coincided with test tours. After the 1925–26, all seven provincial teams featured in every season. They were joined temporarily by Rhodesia (who contested the consecutive 1929-30 and 1931-32 season), and permanently by North Eastern Transvaal in 1937-38, which was the final season before World War II. In all, eleven seasons were played between the wars.

After an eight-year hiatus, the Currie Cup restarted in 1946-47 with all eight provincial teams and Rhodesia, who would now feature permanently.

In 1951-52, the competition adopted a two-tiered structure, which was retained in some format until 1999-2000 (except for a once-off recombination into a single division in 1960-61). From its inception until South Africa's international isolation in 1971, a promotion/relegation structure linked the two tiers, with the winner of the lower division generally replacing the last placed team from the top division — although this was not adhered to every season. The top division generally consisted of four or five teams.

During this time, the stronger provinces began to field a 'B' team in the lower division. Transvaal B was the first to appear (1959–60), followed by Natal B (1965–66). These B-teams were not promoted to the top division when they won the lower competition.

Since the 1965-66 season, the Currie Cup has been contested every year, and was no longer suspended during international tours.

Domestic cricket in South Africa reached its peak during the years of isolation in the 1970s and 1980s. With standards exceptionally high, spectators came in their thousands to watch Currie Cup cricket.

The two-division format was retained, but promotion/relegation was abandoned, and from 1971–72, the top division remained constant with five teams: Transvaal, Natal, Eastern Province, Western Province and Rhodesia. The second division expanded with more B-teams: Western Province B joining in 1975-76, and Eastern Province B and Rhodesia B joining in 1977-78.

During the 1970s, the second division became a separate competition from the Currie Cup, known initially as the Castle Bowl (and later under different commercial names, such as UCB Bowl). In 1971-72, North Eastern Transvaal became known as Northern Transvaal.

Through the 1980s and 1990s, the weaker provincial teams began to gradually migrate back from the Bowl competition to the Currie Cup. At the same time, those provinces' B-teams began to contest the Bowl, which gradually turned the Bowl entirely into a Currie Cup seconds competition. By 1996-97, the Bowl had split into a two-tier competition (with only the top division given first-class status); by 1999-2000, all stand-alone provincial teams had returned to the Currie Cup, and the Bowl was stripped of first-class status entirely.

Northern Transvaal was the first team to return to the Currie Cup, in 1979-80; that same year was the final year for Rhodesia, which did not participate following the country's independence as Zimbabwe from the United Kingdom. Orange Free State returned to the Currie Cup in 1985-86. Border returned permanently in 1991-92 (following an unsuccessful two-season return in 1985-86 and 1986–87). Griqualand West returned in 1996-97. In addition, three new provincial teams entered during this time: Boland, who entered the Bowl in 1980-81, and entered the Cup in 1993-94; and Eastern Transvaal and Western Transvaal, who entered the Bowl in 1991-92, and were the last two teams promoted to the top level in 1999-2000 before the Bowl concluded.

During the same time, the Bowl competition was joined by Northern Transvaal B (1982–83), Orange Free State B (1989–90), Border B and Boland B (1993–94) and Griqualand West B (1997–98), as well as a Zimbabwean Board XI (1993–94) and Namibia cricket team (1996–97).

During the 1990s, as South Africa underwent political changes, several teams changed their names to adapt: Orange Free State became Free State (1995–96); Eastern Transvaal became Easterns (1995–96); Western Transvaal became North West (1996–97); Transvaal became Gauteng (1997–98); Northern Transvaal became Northerns (1997–98); and Natal became KwaZulu-Natal (1998–99). The competition itself also changed its name for commercial reasons, becoming the Castle Cup in 1990-91, and then the SuperSport Series in 1996-97.

During this era, the format of the competition changed several times. In 1982-83, a final was played between the top two teams; this was expanded to a four-team knock-out in 1983-84, and contracted to a three-team knock-out in 1985-86. In 1987-88, the league was split into two pools with a single final between the pool winners. In 1990-91, the league returned to a single pool with no final. The final returned in 1998-99. Then, with eleven teams from 1999–2000, the league adopted a format similar to the 1999 Cricket World Cup, with a super eight or super six round before a single final.

The most notable feature of this era was the end of the dominance of Transvaal, Natal and Western Province. Prior to the 1988-89 season, the three teams had amongst them won 59 of the 60 Currie Cups contested — the only exception being Kimberley's win in the second tournament in 1890-91, won based on the result of a single game against Transvaal. In 1988-89, Eastern Province finally broke the dominance when it beat Transvaal in the final. Orange Free State would win its first championship in the 1990s, and Easterns would also win a championship in the 2000s.

In 2004-05, the format of South African domestic cricket was changed entirely. The eleven provincial teams were rationalised into six new teams: Western Province and Boland merged to form the Cape Cobras; Griqualand West and Free State formed the Eagles (who later became the Knights in 2010-11); Eastern Province and Border became the Warriors; North West and Gauteng became the Lions; Northerns and Easterns became the Titans; and KwaZulu-Natal became the Dolphins. These changes occurred across limited overs cricket as well as first class cricket.

The format of the new competition is a double-round robin. In its first two seasons, the top two contested a final to determine the winner, but both finals finished in draws and the titles were shared (in contrast to most domestic cricket leagues, including earlier Currie Cup formats, where in the case of a drawn final, the title is awarded to the team which finished with the better record). The final was abandoned in 2006-07, and the title is awarded solely on regular season record.

The eleven provincial Currie Cup teams, as well as South Western Districts, KwaZulu-Natal Inland and Namibia, continue to compete separately in the South African Airways Provincial Three-Day Challenge, which remains a first-class competition, despite no longer being the top level of red-ball cricket in South Africa.

Note: Transvaal B and South West Districts are not shown in the table. Each contested only one season in the top division, and neither finished in the top two.

Note: Includes only Currie Cup lower division and Bowl seasons with full first-class status.

Note: To minimise the size of the table, teams which contested five or fewer seasons without winning or placing second are not shown. These teams were: Orange Free State B/Free State B, Rhodesia B/Zimbabwe-Rhodesia B, Griqualand West B, Zimbabwe Board XI, Border B and Boland B.