WBBL and BBL drafts – all you need to know

The BBL and WBBL drafts will take place soon, where the eight clubs in each competition will secure overseas players for the 2024-25 season. Here’s everything you need to know about how it will work.

When will the draft take place?

It all happens on September 1. The WBBL draft will take place first, starting at 3pm AEST, followed straight after by the BBL draft.

What order do the teams pick in?

This was determined by a weighted lottery a few months ago, based on last season’s finishing positions. In the WBBL, Hobart Hurricanes came out with pick No. 1 and Perth Scorchers last with pick No. 8. In the BBL, Melbourne Stars will have first pick and Sydney Sixers the eighth one.

There are four rounds in all. Round one involves Platinum players only; round two Platinum and Gold; round three Gold and Silver; and round four Silver and Bronze.

In the BBL, Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Thunder have traded their second-round picks as part of Wes Agar’s move to Thunder. So, in that round, Strikers have pick 11 and Thunder pick 13. In the WBBL, Strikers have traded picks 19 and 30 to Melbourne Renegades, getting picks 22 and 27 in return

The third round (gold and silver) of each draft goes in reverse order. So, in the WBBL, Scorchers will have consecutive picks at 16 and 17 and in the BBL Sixers will have the same.

The round one WBBL order reads: 1 Hobart Hurricanes, 2 Sydney Sixers, 3 Melbourne Renegades, 4 Melbourne Stars, 5 Sydney Thunder, 6 Adelaide Strikers, 7 Brisbane Heat, 8 Perth Scorchers

The round one BBL order reads: 1 Melbourne Stars, 2 Melbourne Renegades, 3 Sydney Thunder, 4 Hobart Hurricanes, 5 Adelaide Strikers, 6 Brisbane Heat, 7 Perth Scorchers, 8 Sydney Sixers.

How many overseas players will be drafted?

Each team will need to draft a minimum of two overseas players on top of their pre-signed names, meaning they can pass in only one round. The new mechanism was introduced this season to allow clubs in both competitions to sign one player before the draft and on multi-year deals if they wish. All the clubs have already taken advantage of this option.

During the draft itself, the clubs will need to nominate which round their pre-signed overseas players are allocated to, based on the value of their contract. While many of them will be Platinum – the highest paid – that won’t be case for all. Renegades, for example, have already confirmed that Tim Seifert won’t be a Platinum pick. It’s also understood that in the WBBL, Brisbane Heat allrounder Nadine de Klerk will go in one of the lower bands.

Clubs can sign a fourth overseas player during the draft if wanted, but they would be considered a replacement player. A maximum of three can be fielded in an XI.

Full list of pre-signed players

Adelaide Strikers: Smriti Mandhana, Ollie Pope
Brisbane Heat: Nadine de Klerk, Colin Munro
Hobart Hurricanes: Lizelle Lee, Chris Jordan
Melbourne Renegades: Hayley Matthews, Tim Seifert
Melbourne Stars: Marizanne Kapp, Tom Curran
Perth Scorchers: Sophie Devine, Finn Allen
Sydney Sixers: Amelia Kerr, Akeal Hosein
Sydney Thunder: Chamari Athapaththu, Sam Billings

So how much are the players paid?

There are four price bands. These figures are in Australian dollars.

WBBL
Platinum: $110,000 (depending on availability)
Gold: $90,000
Silver: $65,000
Bronze: up to $40,000

BBL
Platinum: $360,000-$420,000 (depending on availability)
Gold: $300,000
Silver: $200,000
Bronze: up to $100,000

Can players be retained by their previous team?

Yes, each club gets one retention pick. The basic example of a player who can be retained is one who played for the club the previous season. But there are other ways players qualify for retention. If they were signed last year but did not play (like Sophie Ecclestone at Sixers), they can be retained this year. When a club confirms which round their pre-signed player places into, that classes as their pick in that round and therefore they can’t then also use their retention.

What is player availability like?

Both competitions have now been reduced to 40-game regular seasons, with the WBBL’s new structure coming into effect this year after the BBL in 2023-24. There’s more of a squeeze on the WBBL this year while the BBL faces its usual headwinds from rival T20 leagues (SA20 and ILT20) and international cricket.

The WBBL starts just seven days after the T20 World Cup finishes. There’s also various bilateral cricket at either end of the competition. India are due to play New Zealand straight after the World Cup while South Africa face England, which overlaps with the finals. England players selected for that tour will leave the WBBL but some South Africans, including Marizanne Kapp, will be available throughout and miss the T20Is.

In the BBL, it’s even more of jigsaw puzzle although most of the pre-signed players have committed to a full season including the finals (that is a requirement for the 2025-26 season onwards, but optional for this one). Last season’s finals were decimated by an exodus of players to the UAE. However, some that are signed in the draft itself will again likely leave early with a host of them stating availability of six to nine games.

The fixture congestion has been amplified for this season because the ILT20 has moved forward to make room for the Champions Trophy in February and will start on January 11, two days after the SA20 starts.

When do the competitions take place?

The WBBL runs from October 27 to December 1 and the BBL from December 15 to January 27.

Source: ESPN Crickinfo