Platinum stars revealed for inaugural WBBL draft

A who's who of global superstars have been unveiled as the 'platinum' level players for Sunday's inaugural Weber WBBL|09 Draft.

Of the 116 players who nominated to be part of the WBBL draft, 25 have been given platinum status, including New Zealand captain Sophie Devine, South Africa great Marizanne Kapp and India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.

Under the WBBL Draft rules, only those 25 platinum players are eligible to be picked in the first round, while platinum or gold level players can be taken in the second round.

Those taken in the first round of the draft at the platinum level will pocket A$110,000, while gold tier players will earn A$90,000.

Players nominated for the draft across three tiers; gold, silver ($65,000) and bronze ($40,000), before league officials elevated select players who they determined the most enticing draft prospects to the platinum tier.

Of the 25 platinum nominees, seven come from England, six from South Africa, five from India, two from New Zealand, three from West Indies, one each from Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Seventeen of the 25 are eligible for retention by a club they have previously played for.

Perth Scorchers are facing an enormous choice between selecting captain Devine or allrounder Kapp – who was recently player of the tournament in The Hundred – in the first round.

Unsurprisingly both are on the platinum list and whoever of the two Perth take with pick three, there is no guarantee the other will still be available by the second round.

Of the platinum cohort, Melbourne Renegades are also spoilt for choice and can retain one of Harmanpreet Kaur, Shabnim Ismail, Chamari Athapaththu or Hayley Matthews.

The Stars' options for retention are Alice Capsey or Jemimah Rodrigues, while Strikers fans will be eager to see if they keep Laura Wolvaardt, or instead look at retaining either Deandra Dottin or Stafanie Taylor.

The Sixers do not have any players eligible for retention, after Sophie Ecclestone was forced to withdraw from the draft having dislocated her shoulder, while Suzie Bates opted for the 'direct nomination' path (explained below).

Of course, there is nothing stopping teams looking elsewhere in the first round, and fresh faces in the draft, who have never appeared in the WBBL previously, include South Africa left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba, the world's second ranked T20I spinner behind Ecclestone, and England quick Lauren Bell.

Each club is only entitled to use one retention pick.

If a player entitled to be retained by a club is selected by another club before they have had their pick in that round, then the first club can use their retention pick to draft that player instead.

However, if the club entitled to a retention pick has already selected in the same round, they are not allowed to use their retention pick.

In total, the WBBL Draft features players from 19 nations, while six others have opted for the unique 'direct nominations' path.

That path removes the uncertainty of a draft for the player, but it comes at a cost – a player opting for this approach can only be paid a maximum of 95 per cent of the silver tier, meaning their salary will be restricted to $61,750 for WBBL|09.

The players who have opted for this approach are England trio Tammy Beaumont, Sophia Dunkley and Amy Jones, South Africa pair Mignon du Preez and Lizelle Lee, and New Zealand’s Suzie Bates.

The introduction of the draft has opened the doors to players from around the globe to put themselves forward for consideration, with the likes of Ireland's Orla Prendergast, USA's Tara Norris and Bangladesh's Jahanara Alam keen to join the competition for the first time.

The overseas player draft will be held on September 3 and will be televised on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports in conjunction with the second KFC BBL men's draft, starting from 5.30pm AEST.

Sydney Thunder secured pick No.1 in the draft via a weighted lottery system, with the Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers drawn for picks two and three respectively.

Platinum WBBL nominees

Chamari Athapaththu, Lauren Bell, Tazmin Brits, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Nida Dar, Sophie Devine, Deandra Dottin, Richa Ghosh, Sarah Glenn, Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp, Harmanpreet Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Heather Knight, Hayley Matthews, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Stafanie Taylor, Chloe Tryon, Pooja Vastrakar, Laura Wolvaardt, Issy Wong, Danni Wyatt