Thunder, Stars secure top picks in Big Bash draft lottery

The Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars are the big winners from this year's Big Bash overseas player draft lottery, winning the coveted first pick for the women's and men's drafts respectively.

Weighted lotteries last Friday set the order for both the inaugural Weber WBBL overseas player draft, and the second KFC BBL draft, with both to be held on Sunday, September 3.

The two-tiered lottery system saw the teams that did not make finals in their respective competitions in a draw for the top pick, before the clubs that played finals followed suit.

For the BBL, it meant the Stars, who finished bottom of BBL|12 with a 3-11 win-loss record, had a 50 per cent chance of taking the top pick ahead of the Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes, who secured picks two and three.

Overseas Player Draft lottery results

WBBL|09: Pick 1: Sydney Thunder; Pick 2: Melbourne Renegades; Pick 3: Perth Scorchers; Pick 4: Melbourne Stars; Pick 5: Hobart Hurricanes; Pick 6: Brisbane Heat; Pick 7: Sydney Sixers; Pick 8: Adelaide Strikers

KFC BBL|13: Pick 1: Melbourne Stars; Pick 2: Adelaide Strikers; Pick 3: Hobart Hurricanes; Pick 4: Melbourne Renegades; Pick 5: Sydney Thunder; Pick 6: Sydney Sixers; Pick 7: Brisbane Heat; Pick 8: Perth Scorchers

The Melbourne Renegades, who snared top pick for the BBL's first draft and finished third on the ladder in BBL|12, secured pick four, ahead of the Sydney clubs with the Thunder to take the fifth pick ahead of the Sixers.

Last year's BBL finalists, the Brisbane Heat and Perth Scorchers, will pick seventh and eighth respectively.

For the WBBL draft, the Thunder, who finished last with one win from 14 games last summer, had a 40 per cent chance of securing the top pick in the lottery that also included the Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers.

Those were the four teams that did not make the finals in WBBL|08, while the four teams that did make the finals went into a second draw.

The weighted system meant last summer's champions Adelaide Strikers will pick last in the first round of the draft, while the Perth Scorchers were able to move up to pick three despite having a better win-loss record than the Stars, who will pick fourth.

The drafts for both leagues will follow the same guidelines and format as the inaugural men's event last year – there will be four rounds, with clubs able to select a minimum of two and a maximum of three players in total. 

The first two rounds will go in the order of the lottery, while rounds three and four will snake, ie the team picking last in the second round will pick first in the third round.

Nominations for the draft are open for both leagues, while the retention policy is still being finalised. In the BBL, draft picks are able to be traded in a new mechanism introduced this year.

The introduction of a draft to the Weber WBBL is part of the biggest contracting shake-up in the league's history, with significant changes to the definition of 'marquee player', shaking up the way clubs can build their 15-player lists.

Both leagues have had a cash injection after a new Memorandum of Understanding between Cricket Australia and the players' union, the Australian Cricketers' Association, was agreed earlier this year.

That has seen the total payment pool for BBL clubs rise to $3m, while Platinum level players in the BBL draft will be able to earn $420,000 – an increase of 23.5 per cent on last year's fee.

Among other contracting changes for this season, BBL clubs can now sign up to two CA-contracted players with limited availability to a new 'Marquee Supplementary List' to ensure they can be brought into the squad if the opportunity arises.

Each BBL club must have a minimum of six players (whether domestic, overseas or CA-contracted) who are paid $200,000 or more per season, and they will be regarded as marquee players, meaning all international talent taken with a silver selection or higher will be considered marquees.

The six marquee players at each club must collectively be paid a minimum of $1.7m in BBL|13.

In the WBBL, any player earning $50,000 or more per season – whether domestic or overseas – will be considered a 'marquee' player. Each club will be required to sign at least five marquee players, while each club's player payment pool will double to more than $732,000 this year.

The draft for both leagues will be a televised event on Fox Cricket, with the WBBL draft taking place from 3pm on Sunday, September 3, ahead of the BBL draft from 4.30pm.