What exactly is the draft order, and how was it reached?
The second round of the BBL abroad draft will be held on September 3, simultaneously with the inaugural WBBL overseas draft. Both drafts will adhere to the same regulations as last year. Everything you need to know is right here.
What is the overseas draft, and where will it be held?
The three overseas players for the BBL and WBBL teams are no longer recruited privately. The BBL held its first international draft last year, while the WBBL will have its inaugural draft this year. They will select a minimum of two and a maximum of three overseas players from the back-to-back drafts in Melbourne on September 3. The draft will exclusively include international players. Domestic players will be contracted as they have always been, while the BBL has implemented a new marquee rule for CA-signed players.
Will the overseas draft be televised?
Both drafts will be broadcast on Foxtel and streamed live on Kayo. The draft will be conducted at NEP studios in South Melbourne, as it was last year. The WBBL draft is scheduled for the afternoon, and the BBL draft in the evening.
How do overseas players nominate?
Players can choose their price category and availability regarding how many games they can play. The BBL is now a 10-game season with playoffs. As was previously the case, not all overseas players will be available for the entire competition owing to international obligations and other leagues. The WBBL season consists of 14 games plus finals, but the women are more likely to be available for the entire season. A nomination process is now underway and will conclude on August 20. The players will be divided into four groups: platinum, gold, Silver, and Bronze. The players can join the Gold, Silver, or Bronze bands. Cricket Australia will select platinum players based on nominations.
The men’s BBL foreign wage bands have increased as the salary cap was raised from AUD 1.9 million to AUD$3 million. Platinum players will now earn AUD 420,000, up from $340,000 last year, albeit there are some caveats this year. They will only be paid in full if available for the entire season, from December 7 to January 24, including finals. They will receive AUD 400,000 if they are only available for 10 matches. The payment will be AUD 380,000 if they can only play nine games. Anyone in the Platinum category who is only available for eight matches or less will receive AUD 360,000 regardless of whether they play one or eight games. Gold players will receive AUD 300,000, Silver players AUD 200,000, and Bronze players AUD 100,000, with no minimum matches required. Because players are contracted with specified retainers, there are no match payments in the BBL. The clubs must pay all salaries abroad from within the salary cap.
The categories solely deal with pricing and not with availability. So, in the Bronze category, players can nominate to be available for the entire tournament or half of the game in the Gold category. Their availability is their currency, and teams must evaluate if selecting a Platinum player with restricted availability is worthwhile.
Platinum players in the WBBL will earn AUD 110,000, which will be paid by the clubs from the AUD 732,000 wage cap. Gold players will receive AUD 90,000, Silver will receive AUD 65,000, and Bronze will receive AUD 40,000.
What is the draft order, and how was it decided?
The three teams who missed the BBL finals last season – Stars, Strikers, and Hurricanes – entered a lottery for the first three draft picks. Stars, who finished last, got three chances to get the first draft pick, Strikers two and Hurricanes one. Here’s another way to think of it: there are six balls in the first lottery, and three of them are Stars’ giving them a 50% chance of first pick, whereas Hurricanes, with one ball, only have a 16.66% chance.
The three BBL teams who did not make the championships last season – the Stars, Strikers, and Hurricanes – competed in a lottery for the first three draft picks. The Stars, who finished last, had three opportunities to get the first draft pick, while the Strikers had two and the Hurricanes had one. Another way to look at it is that there are six balls in the first lottery, three of which are Stars, giving them a 50% chance of getting first choice, while the Hurricanes, with only one ball, have a 16.66% chance.
The order of the following five picks was determined by drawing from a second pot of last season’s finalists. The lottery was weighted once more. The Thunder had five chances to get the fourth pick, the Renegades four, the Sixers three, the Heat two, and the Scorchers one.
The WBBL draft order was determined similarly, except two pots of four due to a different finals structure. The WBBL draft order for this year is as follows: Sydney Thunder (1st), Melbourne Renegades (2nd), Perth Scorchers (3rd), Melbourne Stars (4th), Hobart Hurricanes (5th), Brisbane Heat (6th), Sydney Sixers (7th), Adelaide Strikers (8th).
The first two rounds will be numbered one through eight in both drafts. Round three will be played in reverse order, meaning team eight will have two picks in a row (picks 16 and 17). Round four will be played in the usual order. As a result, team one will receive two consecutive selections (picks 24 and 25).
How does the draft work?
The draft will be held in four rounds, each team receiving one pick every game. Clubs may pass if they do not choose to pick in particular bands but must select at least two and no more than three players by the end of round four. Round one is restricted to Platinum players only. In round two, teams can choose between Platinum and Gold players. In round three, couples can choose between Gold and Silver players. Teams can select Silver or Bronze players in round four. Teams are not required to choose a Platinum player but must do so after selecting a Gold player. Couples may choose two Platinum players, but only one every round. If they decide on two Platinum players, they cannot like a Gold player; instead, they can only choose a Silver or Bronze player. The same rule applies if a team selects two Gold players in rounds two and three. In round four, they can only choose a Bronze player.
Can overseas players who are currently connected with BBL clubs be retained?
They certainly can—however, only one. The “Rashid Khan rule” could be coined for this. Last year, Rashid was the first player to be retained under this provision. The Stars selected him as a Platinum player before the Strikers. Strikers choose to keep him with their retention pick. The Strikers had to pay the same amount of money and spend their first-round choice to save him. The Stars then had a second chance to select Trent Boult. When the Heat set Colin Munro first last year, the Scorchers had the option of retaining him, but they chose not to use the retention pick. This year’s retention selection rule has also been expanded. Players selected or contracted to the club but could not play can be kept.
This is especially true for Liam Livingstone, who was the Renegades’ first-round pick in the inaugural BBL foreign draft last year but was unavailable for the entire season after being abruptly called up to England’s Test squad for the tour of Pakistan. Renegades can use their retention pick, Livingstone, even if he hasn’t played for the club and has only previously played in the BBL for Scorchers. With their retention pick, the Scorchers may face a dilemma in the WBBL, potentially choosing between outstanding allrounders Sophie Devine and Marizanne Kapp if another team takes both of them first.
Are there swapping of picks?
For the first time this season, pick trading is allowed. Last year’s draft saw no selection switching, but CA has added pick trade to the two drafts this year, albeit in a restricted capacity. Teams can only exchange picks once per round. As a result, a team with pick 8 that does not desire a Platinum player cannot swap selection 8 for pick 9 to ensure that both clubs have two choices in the same round. Pick trades must be completed by August 20, the same day nominations close, and CA’s technical committee must approve all transactions.
What about replacement players?
If their draft picks become unavailable due to injury or international duty, each team can contract up to four replacement abroad players (or five if they only took two at the draft). Clubs may have a maximum of seven abroad players on any list, including primary and replacement players. Teams cannot privately advise overseas players not to enter the draft and hire them as substitutes. Before being eligible as a replacement, they must have been accessible to all teams in the draft. As was the case last year, platinum players can serve as replacements. Faf du Plessis and Andre Russell were not chosen as Platinum players in the initial draft. Still, du Plessis ended up playing seven games for the Scorchers as a replacement for Phil Salt, while Russell played four games for the Renegades as a replacement for Livingstone.
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