The Big Bash League draft took place on Sunday with a few massive picks and a fair amount of surprises as well. England all-rounder Liam Livingstone was unsurprisingly the first pick of the Draft, with the Melbourne Renegades snapping up the Lancashire star.
The player’s selection does not come as a huge surprise, especially considering his recent success with England and his brilliant run with the Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League.
New Zealand stalwart Trent Boult was the second pick of the draft. He recently announced his decision to relinquish his New Zealand Cricket contract, as he wishes to spend some time with his family and concentrate on participating in T20 leagues across the world. The fast bowler, who plays for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, was drafted to the Melbourne Stars.
Surprisingly, five players from the Platinum bracket of the BBL Draft were left unselected, including T20 legends such as Andre Russell and Faf du Plessis. However, upon closer inspection, one can understand the logic behind teams not going for certain players, as their availability is a serious concern.
The Sydney Sixers were able to retain two of their stars from the previous season, Chris Jordan and James Vince, while the Adelaide Strikers retained the services of the young T20 veteran Rashid Khan, another decision on expected lines.
“Our plan was always to retain Rashid. Wonderful player, wonderful person He’s been brilliant for our franchise over a number of years, and absolutely delighted to have him back,”
Adelaide Strikers head coach Jason Gillespie said.
The Sydney Thunder acquired two valuable players in Alex Hales and David Willey. The Hobart Hurricanes signed Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf.
“He’s a high-class international leg spinner, he’s very handy with the bat as well, and he’s a gun in the field. So we think we’re bringing in a three-dimensional cricketer. It looks like he’s got reasonable availability,”
the Hurricanes’ Head of Strategy Ricky Ponting said as he spoke about the 23-year-old Shadab.
The teams who are set to face unavailability due to players’ international commitments can sign replacement players from Monday. Each team can sign a maximum of four replacement players from the Draft nominations.
