BBL draft: What is BBL 2022 International Players Draft System?

BBL draft: For the very first time in history, there will be an international player’s draft ahead of the Big Bash League season 12.

Big Bash League in Australia is considered one of the top T20 leagues in the world, but the lack of overseas stars have been criticized a lot in the past. There has been no draft process or auction in the BBL, and the signing process is done by the individual teams only.

But finally, there will be a draft for the International players in the upcoming Big Bash season, a lot of overseas players are expected to register for the same.

“The KFC BBL has a long history of bringing the biggest names to Australia and we expect it to be an even more attractive proposition with the introduction of the draft,” BBL player acquisition consultant Trent Woodhill said in a statement.

“The Draft will create a new layer of strategic decision making for players and clubs alike, as well as new levels of anticipation for the upcoming season.”

“Feedback from players and agents around the world to the Draft concept has been very positive. They know what a great experience a summer in Australia is and we are anticipating a strong group of nominations in the near future.”

BBL draft

After years of waiting, Cricket Australia have finally confirmed that there will be an international draft for the upcoming BBL season, where the players can nominate themselves online, and they will have to specify whether they are prepared to play the full season or for a brief period.

There are four categories in the draft i.e. Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. The players can nominate themselves in Gold, Silver and Bronze, and the top names will automatically be transferred to the Platinum category by the management.

The clubs will be able to pick the players in the order decided by the weighted lottery. Melbourne Stars, Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Renegades, who could not qualify for the playoffs last year will go first in the order. The rest of the five teams will get their picks in the 2nd weighed lottery.

The BBL will enter a new era next summer with the introduction of an overseas player draft, with clubs taking turns to pick from a pool of available international stars ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/d0X6sqIwM3

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 22, 2022

The draft will have four rounds:

Round 1: Platinum only

Round 2: Platinum or Gold

Round 3: Gold or Silver

Round 4: Silver or Bronze

The clubs will be allowed to sign a minimum of two and a maximum of three years at the end of the draft. They can although sign upto five replacement players as well later on. One retention pick will also be allowed for the teams.