Big Bash League announces Overseas Draft for 2022/23 season

Big Bash League (BBL) is all set to unveil its first-ever overseas draft for the upcoming season. The tentative dates for the same have been fixed in August, four months before the BBL season's start. 

In the earlier editions of the tournament, the franchises contacted directly with the international players to play for their respective teams. With this announcement, the players will nominate themselves for drafts pertaining to different salary bands. 

The main motive of Cricket Australia in announcing the overseas draft for the first time has been to include the best international talents in the competition. Furthermore, it has also been done to hold an edge over the rival franchise T20 leagues emerging from UAE and South Africa. 

However, the Australian board and the franchises are bound by a $AUD1.9 million cap for an 18-man squad. Therefore, competing against IPL, PSL, and even BPL will be difficult. 

What is the Overseas Draft?

The BBL teams can select two or a maximum of three international players in the draft. Teams are permitted to field only three overseas players in the XI. On the other hand, the domestic players will continue to be recruited as they used to be. 

The nomination window for the players will be open from June till August. After that, the players will get to select their price categories- Gold, Silver and Bronze, and the BBL will decide on the Platinum players based on the nominations. 

The players in the Gold category will receive $AUD 260,000, while $AUD175,000 and $AUD100,000 are for the Silver and Bronze, respectively. The salary of the Platinum players will be $AUD340,000. This amount is fixed and will be paid to the players, regardless of the number of appearances. 

Draft Order, Retention, and Replacement rules 

The draft order will be decided via a weighted lottery system. Teams like Melbourne Stars, Brisbane Heat, and Melbourne Renegades, who finished in the last three positions in the 2021/22 points table, will be able to pick the first three draft picks. Renegades will get three chances for their first draft pick, while Heat and Stars are getting two and one, respectively. 

On the other hand, the five finalists of the last edition (Perth Scorchers, Sydney Sixers, Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes) will be selecting the 4-8 picks. There are 33, 27, 20, 13, and 7 per cent chances for Hurricanes, Thunder, Strikers, Sixers, and Scorchers, respectively, to get their first picks. 

There will be a total of four rounds in the draft. Round one is solely for Platinum players. In round two, teams will get to pick Platinum or Gold players. The subsequent rounds will witness teams selecting Gold or Silver players. Finally, Silver or Bronze players will be available for selection in round four. 

The Clubs will have an 18-member squad, with 15 domestic and three international recruits.

Each BBL team can contract four replacement players if their draft picks are unavailable for the matches due to any reasons. However, the replacement players must have nominated themselves in the draft. 

Each franchise can retain only one overseas player on the day the draft will be unveiled. So, for example, if Heat manages to pick up Alex Hales as their first pick, the Thunder can retain him for the same amount, which will also fill their picks in the first round.