The BBL overseas draft:
After two years of planning and delays due to COVID-19, the BBL has finally unveiled an overseas player’s draft for the upcoming season. Here’s everything you need to know.
What is a draft abroad?
BBL teams will no longer go out and search for their three foreign players personally. They will select at least two or a maximum of three from a draft that will likely be held in one day in August. The draft will be for foreign players only. The domestic players will be contracted in the same way as they have always been. “The BBL overseas draft“
How do foreign players nominate?
Players refer to the number of games they can play to designate their price range and their availability. The BBL will once again be a 14-game season plus finals and CA is realistic that not all foreigners will be available for the entire competition. The nomination window will be between June and August, Players will be placed in four categories: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Players can choose to enter the Gold, Silver or Bronze bands themselves. Platinum players will be decided by the BBL on a nomination basis and will be paid an estimated $AUD340,000. A large part of this will be outside the salary cap of $1.9 million, with Cricket Australia topping the deal through a marquee payment. That money is a flat rate and will be paid out regardless of whether the player makes himself available for six games or 14. There is no match pay in the BBL, as the players are contracted with set retainers.
Gold players will earn approximately $AUD260,000, Silver $AUD175,000 and Bronze $AUD100,000. Like the Platinum category, a share will be paid by the club inside the cap and CA will contribute a bonus outside the cap, but the CA to marquee payout ratio is not consistent across all categories, with Platinum receiving a higher bonus than Bronze. . Categories are only related to price, not availability. So players can nominate to be available for the entire tournament in the Bronze category or for half the tournament in the Platinum category. Their availability is their currency and teams must decide whether a platinum player with limited availability is worth picking. “The BBL overseas draft”
What is a draft order?
There will be a weighted lottery to decide the order. The three teams that missed the final last season – Melbourne Renegades, Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Stars – will enter a lottery for the first three draft picks. The last-placed Renegades will have three chances to take the first draft, Heat Two and Stars One. Here’s another way to think about it: The first lottery has six balls and three of them are Renegades, giving them a 50% chance of being picked first, while the Stars have only a 16.66% chance with a single ball. The sequence of the next five selections will be chosen from a second pot featuring the finalists of the previous season. Again the lottery will be weighted. Fifth-placed Hobart Hurricanes will get five chances to get a fourth pick, Sydney Thunder four, Adelaide Strikers three, Sydney Sixers two and defending champion Perth Scorchers one. Five to eight choices will be drawn in the same way. Once orders have been established through two weighted lotteries, the first two rounds of the draft will be played in order from one to eight. Round three will run in reverse order, so team eight will receive two consecutive selections (specifically
Choose 16 and 17). Round four will again go on in the normal order. So team one will get two consecutive selections (picks 24 and 25). “The BBL overseas draft”
How does the draft work?
The draft will have four rounds with each team getting one pick per round. Clubs may pass if they do not wish to be selected in certain rounds, but must choose at least two or a maximum of three players by the completion of round four. Round One is for Platinum players only. In the second round, teams can choose either Platinum or Gold players. In round three, teams can select either Gold or Silver players. In the fourth round, teams can choose either a Silver or a Bronze player. Teams are not required to select a Platinum Player.
Can foreign players associated with BBL clubs be retained?
Yes they can. But only one. This may be coined the “Rashid Khan regime”. For example, Rashid has played his entire BBL career with the Strikers, but is almost certainly going to be a platinum player and is available to everyone in the first round. If the Renegades get the first pick in the lottery and choose Rashid, strikers have the option of using their retention pick to keep it. Strikers must pay the same amount and must use their pick to retain it in the first round. Renegades will get a chance to choose again. Players like Mujeeb-ur-Rahman in the Heat, Alex Hales in the Thunder and Haris Rauf in the Stars can be retention picks, given their strong links to teams if they are nominated in the draft. “The BBL overseas draft”
Are the selections being swapped?
No, once the draft order is framed, it will remain the same.
What about replacement players?
Each team may contract up to four replacement overseas players (or five if they have picked only two players in the draft) if their choice in the draft becomes unavailable due to injury or international duty. An additional $AUD50,000 replacement bonus will be available for use by clubs outside the salary range to help recruit replacement players, However, replacement overseas players must be nominated for the draft and a platinum player must be selected to be eligible for the $50,000 teams. If a team picks up two Platinum players they are eligible for $100,000 salary cap relief. Teams cannot ask foreign players not to nominate privately for the draft and then contract them as replacements. They must be available to all teams initially in the draft before being available as replacements. “The BBL overseas draft”
Are the list sizes the same?
Yes. Clubs will have a contract list of 18 players, including 15 domestic Australian players and three overseas, although teams can include up to 16 locals and at least two foreigners. Any replacement foreign player is on top of that.
What about non-contracted Australian players?
It is likely that Australian internationals will be available for a large part of the upcoming BBL. Australia’s limited overs specialists will be available for the first half of the tournament and could go through the entire tournament if the three-match ODI series against South Africa, scheduled for January 12-17, does not go ahead. Australia’s Test players will be ruled out of the first half of the tournament but will be available from January 9 at the conclusion of the Sydney Test against South Africa. “The BBL overseas draft”
Multi-format international players like David Warner, Pat Cummins, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green are players who do not currently have BBL contracts with the clubs. If they are available, and a club does not have a complete list or is in need of an overseas replacement player, clubs can use a replacement bonus of $50,000, plus any places left in their salary range on Australian players on contract. Can be used for the back end of. Tournament. This ensures that the ridiculous situation with Smith and the Sixers last season would have been avoided.
Will the foreign draft be televised?
BBL is in discussion with rights holders Channel Seven and Foxtel about airing the draft. Should any of these networks choose not to show it, the draft is likely to be streamed online?
