Renegades claim top pick in first BBL Draft lottery
The Melbourne Renegades have earned the coveted first pick in the inaugural BBL overseas player draft after being drawn first in the league’s weighted lottery.
Last season’s Wooden Spoon had a 50 per cent chance of getting the number one pick and holding off the Melbourne Stars and Brisbane Heat in the first of two lotteries held at Cricket Australia’s Melbourne headquarters on Wednesday.
The Stars pulled out second leaving the Heat with a third pick.
But the biggest surprise came in the second draw for picks four to eight, with the Sydney Sixers – who had just a 13 per cent chance of receiving the fourth pick after being runners-up last summer – pulled out next.
The Adelaide Strikers received pick five, which looks set to be used to defend Afghan superstar Rashid Khan, with reigning champions Perth Scorchers – who have only one entry in the second lottery – taking pick six ahead of the Sydney Thunder who will pick seventh.
That leaves the Hobart Hurricanes – who have the best chance of securing a fourth pick due to their loss to the Strikers in last year’s Eliminator final – with a pick eight.
The League also announced the BBL|12 Draft will be held on Saturday, 28 August following the first Dettol ODI between Australia and Zimbabwe in Townsville and will be broadcast on Foxtel and Kayo Sports.
The draft will be hosted by Adam Gilchrist of Fox Cricket, Michael Hussey, Darren Lehmann, Kath Loughnan and Mark Howard.
Only 28 of the draft of more than 170 nominations have so far been publicly announced but those competing for selection with the first picks include Rashid, Faf du Plessis, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, with additional ‘platinum’ level players to be announced in the coming weeks. .
Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said the club had completed “a stack of scenario planning” around the draft and it was a huge relief to get the No.1 pick.
“I have to say I’m a little nervous because we’ve done a lot since the end of last season to build trust around the club and do things differently and change the way it’s been done in the past,” he said. to cricket.com.au.
“One of the keys … is our more structured selection of overseas players and that is an area where we fall.
“We have targeted enough at the types of players we need and then worked through the nominations of who was in the pool and made sure that we got the right players.
“We have three or four real needs for our team and we will try to meet those needs with these players.”
Rosengarten said it would be a challenge to decide between a few “incredible players” about who to take on pick 1 and many decisions would depend on availability.
“(It involves) maximizing the available time players can play for you, overlapping with schedules and where our games are,” he said.
“With overseas players the best people are the ones who really invest in making your team better and Rashid is a perfect example, he loves their club.”
Renegades would be eligible to retain Reece Topley, who is England’s leading goal taker in international white ball cricket this year with 18 scalps at 18.33, Afghan pairing Mohammad Nabi and Zahir Khan, and former India U19 captain Unmukt Chand, if those players enter draft.
Sixers list manager and Australian legend Lisa Stalekar said they were interested in picking the number 4 given the odds stacked against them.
“The Sixers already have a very established squad with a lot of experience and players who have worn magenta for many years, so we are looking for some world class additions to complement the existing group,” he said.
The Sixers are eligible to retain British trio James Vince, Tom Curran and Chris Jordan, along with Pakistan winger Shadab Khan, if those players run for the draft.
League officials will elevate the shortlisted players they consider the most attractive draft candidates to platinum tier for $340,000 with clubs only being allowed to choose from that band during the first round of the draft (1-8 picks).
Platinum-eligible players and those who nominated the gold salary band ($260,000) can be earned in the second round (9-16 picks), with gold and silver tier players ($175,000) available in the third round and silver and bronze ($100,000) in the fourth round. .
From the second round, the draft will follow a snake format with the Hurricanes, who had the last pick in the second round (16) to get the first pick in the third round (17).
Public BBL|12 draft nominations so far
Afghanistan: Rashid Khan, Qais Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Waqarullah Ishaq, Izharulhaq Naveed, Naveen-ul-haq Pupil, Hazratullah Zazai
Namibia: David Wiese
New Zealand: Colin Munro, Todd Astle
South Africa: Faf du Plessis, Marchant de Lange, Rilee Rossouw
West Indies: Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Sheldon Cottrell, Chemar Holder, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Anderson Phillip, Khary Pierre, Ravi Rampaul, Sherfane Rutherford, Jayden Seales, Kevin Sinclair, Tion Webster, Nyeem Young
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