Thunder and Stars win WBBL and BBL draft lotteries
Sydney Thunder can have the primary choose within the inaugural WBBL abroad draft, whereas Melbourne Stars will get the primary choose within the BBL draft that shall be held on the identical day on September 3, following the draft lottery that was held final Friday.
Cricket Australia (CA) introduced the draft lottery outcomes on Monday afternoon and confirmed that the 2 drafts shall be held back-to-back in Melbourne,, with each drafts to be televised on Foxtel and Kayo.
CA held the inaugural BBL draft last year and have added an similar WBBL draft this yr together with a weighted lottery to determine the primary choose.
In the WBBL, the 4 groups who missed the finals final season – Sydney Thunder, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers – had entries within the first pot to see who would get the primary choose. Thunder had 4 entries, Renegades three, Stars two and Scorchers one, which was primarily based on the place they completed on the desk final season. Thunder, who completed final and had essentially the most probabilities within the lottery, gained the primary choose, adopted by Renegades, Scorchers and Stars.
Last yr’s finalists, Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Sixers had been positioned in a second weighted lottery to find out picks 5 by 8. Hurricanes claimed choose 5, adopted by Heat, Sixers and final yr’s WBBL champions Strikers.
The WBBL draft will comply with the identical guidelines as the lads’s BBL draft. The abroad gamers who’ve been nominated for the draft shall be divided into 4 wage classes, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Platinum gamers will earn AUD$110,000 to be paid by the golf equipment from the AUD$732,000 wage cap. Gold gamers will earn AUD$90,000, Silver AUD$65,000 and Bronze will earn $AUD40,000.
There shall be 4 draft rounds with the primary spherical being for Platinum gamers solely and the second spherical being for Platinum and Gold gamers. The first two rounds will go in draft order, however within the third spherical, the order will reverse. In the WBBL draft, Strikers can have the final picks in spherical one and spherical two at picks 8 and 16 however can have the primary choose in spherical three with choose 17. They will then have the final choose, 32, within the fourth spherical because the order reverses once more.
Stars will get the primary choose within the males’s BBL draft after ending eighth final season. Stars had been adopted by Strikers, Hurricanes and Renegades within the lottery for the primary 4 picks. Thunder, Sixers, Heat and two-time defending BBL champions Scorchers can have picks 5 by 8 in that order.
There has been a rise within the males’s BBL abroad wage bands after the wage cap was elevated from AUD$1.9 million to AUD$3 million. Platinum gamers at the moment are set to earn AUD$420,000, up from AUD$340,000 final yr though there are caveats for the Platinum gamers this yr. They will solely earn the complete quantity if they’re obtainable for all the season together with finals, which runs from December 7 to January 24. If they’re solely obtainable for 10 matches, they are going to earn AUD$400,000. If they’ll solely play 9 matches the, worth shall be AUD$380,000. Players solely obtainable for eight matches or much less within the Platinum class will earn AUD$360,000 no matter whether or not they play one recreation or eight.
Gold gamers will earn AUD$300,000, Silver AUD$200,000, and Bronze AUD$100,000 with no minimal matches required for these gamers.
As of final yr, there shall be one retention choose obtainable for every membership in each the BBL and WBBL drafts. Rashid Khan was the primary participant retained underneath this rule within the males’s draft final yr after Stars tried to take him forward of Strikers’ first choose. Clubs will solely have to make use of their subsequent choose in the identical spherical to retain an abroad participant who performed for them final season.
The BBL and WBBL have added a brand new dimension to the draft with groups in a position to commerce picks within the lead-up to the draft. Picks can solely be traded inside every spherical. It will not be necessary to take a Platinum participant, with Scorchers opting to move within the first spherical final yr. But golf equipment can’t commerce out of the primary spherical with a view to achieve an additional choose within the second or third spherical and vice-versa.
Nominations are open for abroad gamers to enter the draft, with each league and membership officers already commencing discussions with gamers and brokers. Those discussions will possible ramp up in the course of the Hundred in August and CA is predicted to announce among the marquee participant nominations within the coming weeks forward of the draft.
Alex Malcolm is an Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo