KATHMANDU: Cricket Australia has unveiled the list of players nominated for the upcoming drafts of the Weber Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and KFC Big Bash League (BBL).
A total of 432 men and 161 women have been nominated for selection in Sunday’s drafts for WBBL|10 and BBL|14, which will take place in Melbourne on September 1.
This year marks the third season of the KFC BBL’s overseas player draft and the second for the Weber WBBL.
Among the nominees are two Nepali cricketers, spinners Sandeep Lamichhane and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi.
How does the draft work?
The draft rules are identical for both the WBBL and BBL.
Clubs will take turns selecting players across four rounds.
Each club must select a minimum of two overseas players, with one of their picks allocated to a pre-draft overseas player signing that corresponds with the player’s salary band.
This year, clubs are not required to pass on any picks and may select up to four players, budget permitting.
One of the four selections would be considered an overseas replacement player, as clubs can only have three international players on their primary list of 18 at any one time during the tournament.
On draft day, clubs can select a player who has made themselves available in one of four overseas player salary bands: Platinum (Round 1 or 2), Gold (Round 2 or 3), Silver (Round 3 or 4), or Bronze (Round 4 only).
For BBL’s Platinum players, salaries will vary based on availability: $420,000 for full availability, $400,000 for 10 matches, $380,000 for nine matches, and $360,000 for up to eight matches.
This year, players have been able to nominate themselves for the Platinum round, a choice made by the majority of male and female nominees.
Sixteen players have been contracted before the drafts under the league’s new multi-year pre-signing mechanism for overseas players.
These players will not appear on the nominations list but must be selected by their club during the draft with a pick that matches the salary band of their playing contract.
How many players are available to be drafted?
Nearly 600 overseas players from 30 countries have entered the drafts, including cricketers from major cricketing nations as well as less traditional countries like Hong Kong, Uganda, Japan, Greece, Indonesia, and Romania.
There are 161 players up for selection in the WBBL|10 Draft and 432 men in the BBL|14 Draft pool.
You can view the full list of eligible players and their availability on the Big Bash app.
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