The Big Bash is bracing itself for a historic new dawn.
For the first time in the competition’s 12-year history, the Big Bash will involve a draft that will revolutionise the competition and breathe new life into it.
The draft will see some of the game’s biggest names put their hands up for selection, with the whole spectacle to be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo.
In total, 332 players from 20 countries will be up for grabs in the auction.
There will be a maximum of 24 players selected on Sunday evening, with another 20 players picked in the days after the first draft.
But to get us in the mood for the draft, we’ve broken down the squad lists, which will have a maximum of 18 players in it at any one time and just three overseas picks and done a mock draft. Do you agree with our selections?
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In line with Sunday’s draft, each club must make a minimum of two picks and a maximum of three across the four rounds – meaning that in one of the four rounds they will need to pass.
Importantly, only the 12 players allocated ‘platinum’ status can be selected in the first round.
Platinum and gold band players can be selected in round two, gold and silver in round three, and silver and bronze in round four.
The tactics on who franchises pick will be fascinating. Will all eight opt for a platinum pick first up? It sounds crazy, and perhaps is, but it is conceivable.
Platinum BBL|12 Draft list, Faf du Plessis (South Africa), Jason Roy (England), Liam Livingstone (England), Sam Billings (England), Kieron Pollard (West Indies), Andre Russell (West Indies), David Willey (England), Shadab Khan (Pakistan), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies),
Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Chris Jordan (England), Trent Boult (New Zealand)
The draft order will follow a snake format from the second round, meaning the Hurricanes, who drew last in the lottery, will have the first pick in round three.
DRAFT ORDER (in order from first pick to last)
PLATINUM PLAYERS ONLY
Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Brisbane Heat, Sydney Sixers, Adelaide Strikers, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Thunder, Hobart Hurricanes
MOCK DRAFT
1. Liam Livingstone – Melbourne Renegades (PLATINUM)
One of the world’s most dynamic batters and one of the world’s most under-rated spin bowlers. Livingstone hits a gigantic ball and the roof at Marvel will be in danger. Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist told SEN Radio Livingstone is “the big sleeper” in the list of platinum players.
2. Trent Boult – Melbourne Stars (PLATINUM)
Historically the Stars have liked bringing a bowler into their ranks and given the strength up the top of the order, a man of Boult’s calibre will add plenty of experience to the Melbourne-side. A fast left-armer at the MCG will be lethal.
3. Faf du Plessis – Brisbane Heat (PLATINUM)
Leadership and batting prowess, du Plessis offers both and the Heat need each as must as each other. Once upon a time another big name South African came to town (AB de Villiers) and du Plessis can continue that fine tradition.
4. Chris Jordan – Sydney Sixers (PLATINUM)
The Sixers have often picked up English players and Jordan fits the bill. He’s experienced and would give the Sixers a point of difference. He can also hit some lower order runs.
5. Rashid Khan – Adelaide Strikers (PLATINUM)
One of the best finds in Big Bash history. Khan is box office and loves the Adelaide Oval. Put this man down on your certainties.
6. David Willey – Perth Scorchers (PLATINUM)
There’s a school of thought the Scorchers could pass early, but given the history of Willey — and his availability throughout the entire tournament – the English bowling all-rounder would be an astute pick.
HOW TO WATCH?
The BBL Draft will be broadcast straight after Australia’s first ODI match against Zimbabwe. You can watch the BBL Draft LIVE on Foxtel and Kayo. It is scheduled to begin at 6:30pm.
7. Andre Russell – Sydney Thunder (PLATINUM)
Still one of the biggest hitters of the ball, ‘Dre Russ’ has a proven record at the Thunder and his power would give the Sydney-based side an explosive lower middle-order alongside Daniel Sams.
8. Kieron Pollard – Hobart Hurricanes (PLATINUM)
The Hurricanes have explosive proven batters at the top of the order as well as Tim David — one of the real breakout stars of T20 cricket — but they could do with another player to go with him through the middle orders.
PLATINUM AND GOLD PLAYERS
9. Shadab Khan – Melbourne Renegades
Spin option and class.
10. Dwayne Bravo – Melbourne Stars
Getting on but Bravo’s still got it.
11. Tom Curran – Brisbane Heat
Provides flexibility with an ability to take wickets and score runs.
12. PASS – Sydney Sixers
13. Tom Banton – Adelaide Strikers
Short boundaries square of the wicket? Yes, please.
14. PASS – Perth Scorchers
15. PASS – Sydney Thunder
16. PASS – Hobart Hurricanes
GOLD AND SILVER PLAYERS
17. Jimmy Neesham – Hobart Hurricanes
Almost led New Zealand to World Cup glory. This man’s a character and a very good cricketer.
18. Sam Billings – Sydney Thunder
Strong campaign with the bat, Billings is a busy cricketer which is what you need at the Showground.
19. Colin Munro – Perth Scorchers
X-factor and a proven ability to score runs and clear the fence.
20. Rilee Russouw – Adelaide Strikers
Quality player and someone who will love the Adelaide Oval.
21. James Vince – Sydney Sixers
A man who loves the SCG and scoring runs.
22. PASS – Brisbane Heat
23. PASS – Melbourne Stars
24. PASS – Melbourne Renegades
SILVER AND BRONZE PLAYERS
25. Stephen Eskinazi – Melbourne Renegades
A relative unknown, this man is scoring runs and will come very cheap.
26. Joe Clarke – Melbourne Stars
The Englishman has experience in the competition and made regular contributions.
27. Ross Taylor – Brisbane Heat
Former New Zealand captain who can provide experience when du Plessis leaves.
28. Jake Lintott – Sydney Sixers
Left-arm spinner with a very good wrong’un who has played in Sydney Grade Cricket. He recently broken through in various T20 competitions and can score lower order runs.
29. PASS – Adelaide Strikers
30. Laurie Evans – Perth Scorchers
Helped the Scorchers to a Big Bash title. No brainer.
31. Dinesh Chandimal – Sydney Thunder
Super batter but someone whose game is well suited to the slower deck in Western Sydney.
32. Sandeep Lamichhane – Hobart Hurricanes
A regular in the Big Bash and a rising spinner in world cricket.
BBL SQUADS (SO FAR)
Adelaide Strikers
BBL|12 squad: Wes Agar, Cameron Boyce, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Ryan Gibson, Travis Head, Henry Hunt, Thomas Kelly, Chris Lynn, Harry Nielsen, Matt Short, Jake Weatherald, Henry Thorton
Ins: Cameron Boyce, Chris Lynn, Henry Hunt
Outs: Matthew Renshaw, Jon Wells, Daniel Worrall
BBL|11 squad members off-contract: Fawad Ahmed, Peter Siddle, Spencer Johnson, Liam O’Connor, Liam Scott
Eligible retention picks: Rashid Khan, George Garton, Ian Cockbain, Daniel Worrall.
Brisbane Heat
BBL|12 squad: Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Max Bryant, Sam Heazlett, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Jack Wildermuth
Ins: Usman Khawaja, Matthew Renshaw
Outs: Chris Lynn
BBL|11 squad members off-contract: Tom Cooper, Connor Sully, Matthew Willams
Eligible retention picks: Mujeeb ur Rahman, Tom Abell, Fakhar Zaman.
Hobart Hurricanes
BBL|12 squad: Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Joel Paris, Wil Parker, D’Arcy Short, Matthew Wade
Ins: TBC
Outs: Tom Rogers
BBL|11 squad members off-contract: Scott Boland, Peter Handscomb, Josh Kann, Mac Wright
Eligible retention picks: Jordan Cox, Tom Lammonby, Sandeep Lamichhane.
Melbourne Renegades
BBL|12 squad: Zak Evans, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Mackenzie Harvey, Nic Maddinson (c), Shaun Marsh, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Jon Wells
Ins: Tom Rogers, Jon Wells
Outs: Cameron Boyce, James Pattinson
BBL|11 squad members off-contract: Marcus Harris, Jack Prestwidge, Will Sutherland, Mitch Perry, Josh Lalor
Eligible retention picks: Unmukt Chand, Zahir Khan, Reece Topley.
Melbourne Stars
BBL|12 squad: Joe Burns, Hilton Cartwright, Brody Couch, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Liam Hatcher, Clint Hinchliffe, Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell (c), Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Beau Webster, Adam Zampa
Ins: TBC
Outs: Seb Gotch
BBL|11 squad members off-contract: Tom O’Connell, Sam Elliott, Sam Rainbird
Eligible retention picks: Qais Ahmad, Andre Russell, Ahmad Daniyal Latif, Joe Clarke, Syed Faridoun Mahmood.
Perth Scorchers
BBL|12 squad: Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Aaron Hardie, Peter Hatzoglou, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye
Ins: TBC
Outs: Kurtis Patterson
BBL|11 squad members off-contract: None
Eligible retention picks: Laurie Evans, Colin Munro, Tymal Mills.
Sydney Sixers
BBL|12 squad: Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Dan Christian, Ben Dwarshuis, Moises Henriques, (c), Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk
Ins: Kurtis Patterson
Outs: TBC
BBL|11 squad members off-contract: Todd Murphy, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Ben Manenti, Lloyd Pope
Eligible retention picks: Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, James Vince, Shadab Khan.
Sydney Thunder
BBL|12 squad: Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Baxter Holt, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner
Ins: David Warner
Outs: Usman Khawaja
BBL|11 squad members off-contract: Gurinder Sandhu, Ben Cutting
Eligible retention picks: Sam Billings, Alex Hales, Muhammad Hasnain.
FULL LIST OF NOMINEES
Afghanistan
Eligible for retention: Rashid Khan (Adelaide Strikers), Qais Ahmad (Melbourne Stars), Mujeeb ur Rahman (Brisbane Heat), Zahir Khan (Melbourne Renegades)
Other nominees: Noor Ahmad, Ijaz Ahmadzai, Zia ur Rehman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shafiqullah Ghafari, Usman Ghani, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hamid Hassan, Hamza Hotak, Waqarullah Ishaq, Nangeyalia Kharote, Izharulhaq Naveed, Azmatullah Omarzai, Abdul Rahman Rahmani, Waqar Salamkheil, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Shahzad, Naveen-ul-haq Murid, Ghamai Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai
Bangladesh
Al-amin Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Ripon Mondol
Bermuda
Kamau Leverock
Canada
Kairav Sharma
England
Eligible for retention: Tom Abell (Brisbane Heat), Sam Billings (Sydney Thunder), Joe Clarke (Melbourne Stars), Ian Cockbain (Adelaide Strikers), Jordan Cox (Hobart Hurricanes), Tom Curran (Sydney Sixers), Laurie Evans (Perth Scorchers), George Garton (Adelaide Strikers), Alex Hales (Sydney Thunder), Chris Jordan (Sydney Sixers), Tom Lammonby (Hobart Hurricanes), Tymal Mills (Perth Scorchers), Reece Topley (Melbourne Renegades), James Vince (Sydney Sixers), Daniel Worrall (Adelaide Strikers)
Other nominees: Rehan Ahmed, Toby Albert, Kashif Ali, Tom Alsop, Martin Andersson, Gus Atkinson, Josh Baker, Sonny Baker, Jake Ball, Tom Banton, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Luc Benkenstein, Jacob Bethel, Alex Blake, James Bracey, Henry Brookes, Patrick Brown, Solomon Budinger, Brydon Carse, Matthew Carter, Jordan Clark, Josh Cobb, Mason Crane, Zak Crawley, Matt Critchley, Steven Croft, Liam Dawson, Alex Davies, Joe Denly, Brett D’Oliveira, Jacobus Leus Du Plooy, Stephen Eskinazi, Joey Evison, Matt Fisher, Luke Fletcher, James Fuller, Ben Geddes, Ben Gibbon, Richard Gleeson, Lewis Gregory, Nicholas Gubbins, Sam Hain, Haseed Hameed, Miles Hammond, Tom Hartley, Jack Haynes, Freddie Heldreich, Tom Helm, Ryan Higgins, Max Holden, Adam Hose, Benny Howell, Louis Kimber, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Danny Lamb, Tom Lawes, Jack Leaning, Jake Lintott, Liam Livingstone, David Lloyd, Adam Lyth, Wayne Madsen, Conor McKerr, Lewis McManus, Ben Mike, Tom Moores, Daniel Moriarty, Daniel Mousley, Steven Mullaney, Craig Overton, Jamie Overton, Samit Patel, Callum Parkinson, Matt Parkinson, David Payne, Michael Pepper, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Matthew Quinn, Ben Raine, Adam Rossington, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, George Scrimshaw, John Simpson, Prem Sisodiya, Will Smeed, Nathan Sowter, Mitchell Stanley, Cameron Steel, Darren Stevens, Olly Stone, Callum Taylor, Jack Taylor, Tommy Taylor, Liam Trevaskis, Paul Walter, Joe Weatherley, Ross Whiteley, David Willey, Chris Wood, Luke Wood, Rob Yates, Saif Zaib
Ireland
Mark Adair, Andy Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector
Namibia
David Wiese
Nepal
Eligible for retention: Sandeep Lamichhane (Hobart Hurricanes)
Other nominees: Subash Khakurel
Netherlands
Colin Ackermann, Shariz Ahmad, Bas De Leede, Brandon Glover, Fred Klassen, Maxwell O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Timm Van Der Gugten, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Paul Van Meekeren, Tobias Visee
New Zealand
Eligible for retention: Colin Munro (Perth Scorchers)
Other nominees: Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan, James Neesham, Ross Taylor
Oman: Bilal Khan
Pakistan
Eligible for retention: Shadab Khan (Sydney Sixers), Ahmad Daniyal Latif (Melbourne Stars), Syed Faridoun Mahmood (Melbourne Stars), Mohammad Hasnain (Pakistan), Fakhar Zaman (Brisbane Heat)
Other nominees: Tayyab Abbas, Abbas Afridi, Asif Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sarfraz Ahmed, Sohail Akhtar, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Faisal Akram, Qasim Akram, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Adil Amin, Mohammad Amir, Faheem Ashraf, Umaid Asif, Amad Butt, Shahnawaz Dahani, Salman Fayyaz, Kamran Ghulam, Zafar Gohar, Sameen Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Haris, Dilbar Hussain, Mohammad Ilyas, Ali Imran, Muhammad Imran Jnr, Arshad Iqbal, Mohammad Irfan, Muhammad Irfan Junior, Salman Irshad, Akif Javed, Usman Khalid, Azam Khan, Imran Khan, Junaid Khan, Maaz Khan, Musa Khan, Sharjeel Khan, Sohail Khan, Zaman Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Shan Masood, Usama Mir, Muhammad Salman Mirza, Mehran Mumtaz, Saad Naseem, Usman Qadir, Momin Qamar, Rumman Raees, Mamoon ur Riaz, Wahab Riaz, Abdullah Shafique, Ali Majid Shah, Khushdil Shah, Yasir Shah, Saud Shakeel, Usman Shinwari, Haris Sohail, Hussain Talat, Imam-ul-Haq, Khalid Usman, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Amir Yamin, Muhammad Zahid, Zeeshan Zameer, Muhammad Zeeshan
Papua New Guinea
Norman Vanua
Scotland
Michael Jones, Michael Leask, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Hamza Tahir, Craig Wallace, Mark Watt
South Africa
Chris Benjamin, Shane Dadswell, Marchant de Lange, Faf du Plessis, Pieter Malan, Migael Pretorius, Rilee Rossouw, Imran Tahir
Sri Lanka
Dinesh Chandimal, Nisala Gamage, Dushan Hemantha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ruwantha Kellapotha, Ramesh Mendis, Lakshan Sandakan
United Arab Emirates
Vriitya Aravind, Rahul Bhatia, Aryan Lakra, Alishan Sharafu
USA
Eligible for retention: Unmukt Chand (Melbourne Renegades)
Other nominees: Harmeet Singh Baddhan, Karima Gore, Andries Gous, Nosthush Kenjige, Ali Khan, Jaskaran Malhotra, Saurabh Netravalkar, Monank Patel, Smit Patel
West Indies
Eligible for retention: Andre Russell (Melbourne Stars)
Other nominees: Joshua Bishop, Carlos Brathwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Rivaldo Clarke Sheldon Cottrell, Amrit Dass, Mark Deyal, Dominic Drakes, Fidel Edwards, Matthew Forde, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Chemar Holder, Akeal Hosein, Joshua James, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Keemo Paul, Anderson Phillip, Kieron Pollard, Khary Pierre, Ravi Rampaul, Jeavor Royal, Sherfane Rutherford, Jayden Seales, Kevin Sinclair, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh, Tion Webster, Kesrick Williams, Nyeem Young
Zimbabwe: Ryan Burl, Eddie Byrom, Elton Chigumbura, Christopher Mpofu, Blessing Muzarabani, Tawanda Muyeye, Richard Ngarava
