Star power abounds as first draft nominees revealed

Sophie Ecclestone, Harmanpreet Kaur and Heather Knight are among the superstars in the mix with the first batch of nominees revealed for the upcoming Big Bash League overseas drafts.

West Indies Gabba hero Shamar Joseph and New Zealand speedster Lockie Ferguson are also set to be top prospects in the men's draft as new faces that have not previously featured in the KFC BBL up for grabs on September 1.

The league has today confirmed the first 10 men's and women's nominees for this year's overseas player drafts ahead of tickets for the upcoming seasons going on sale tomorrow.

Among the first 20 players – who hail from seven different countries – three are international captains, while all female players having previously appeared in the Weber WBBL along with eight of the men in the BBL.

WBBL|10 first draft nominees: Suzie Bates (New Zealand), Alice Capsey (England), Sophie Ecclestone (England), Shabnim Ismail (South Africa), Harmanpreet Kaur (India), Heather Knight (England), Jemimah Rodrigues (India), Deepti Sharma (India), Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa), Danni Wyatt (England)

 

BBL|14 first 10 draft nominees: Laurie Evans (England), Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand), Alex Hales (England), Shamar Joseph (West Indies), Shadab Khan (Pakistan), Jamie Overton (England), Haris Rauf (Pakistan), Jason Roy (England), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), James Vince (England)

The drafts will be broadcast live across the Seven Network, 7plus, Fox Sports and Kayo Sports on September 1, starting with the WBBL at 3pm AEST followed by the BBL immediately after.

Left-arm spin sensation Ecclestone looms as one player clubs will be desperate to get their hands on and she's eligible to be retained by Sydney Sixers, who hold the No.2 pick.

But having already secured New Zealand leg-spinner Amelia Kerr as their pre-draft signing and given the other star power on their books – including Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner – they may struggle to fit Ecclestone into their salary cap at the first-round Platinum price.

Shabnim Ismail (Hurricanes), Danni Wyatt (Scorchers), Laura Wolvaardt (Strikers), Alice Capsey (Stars), Heather Knight (Thunder), Harmanpreet Kaur (Renegades) and Suzie Bates (Sixers) could also be retained by their previous clubs.

Six of the 10 are eligible to be retained in the men's draft – Laurie Evans (Scorchers), Alex Hales (Thunder), Jamie Overton (Strikers), Haris Rauf (Stars), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Renegades) and James Vince (Sixers).

While two BBL clubs – the Sydney Sixers and Adelaide Strikers – are yet to announce a pre-draft signing, Vince's snub is curious given his previous success in the league and his current rich vein of form in this year's English domestic competitions that includes topping the runs tally in The Hundred.

Scorchers regular Laurie Evans is also certain to attract plenty of interest after slamming 292 runs at a strike rate of 189.61 last season, although the five-time champions still hold retention rights over the Englishman despite securing Kiwi blaster Finn Allen on a two-year deal.

Express Black Caps quick Ferguson, who declined a New Zealand Cricket central contract in June, and breakout Guyanese tearaway Joseph are the two new faces in this bath vying for a maiden stint in the BBL, with Joseph endearing himself to Aussie fans last summer with a herculean 7-68 in Brisbane, bowling through a foot injury to carry the Windies to their first Test victory over Australian in more than 20 years.

Nominations for the drafts have now closed, with more than 500 female and male overseas players throwing their hats in the mix.

Twelve of the game's top players have already committed to clubs for WBBL|10 and BBL|14 via the league's new multi-year, pre-draft contract provision.

Pre-signed overseas players

 

Brisbane Heat: Nadine de Klerk (South Africa), Colin Munro (New Zealand)

 

Hobart Hurricanes: Chris Jordan (England)

 

Melbourne Renegades: Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Tim Seifert (New Zealand)

 

Melbourne Stars: Marizanne Kapp (South Africa), Tom Curran (England)

 

Perth Scorchers: Sophie Devine (New Zealand), Finn Allen (New Zealand)

 

Sydney Sixers: Amelia Kerr (New Zealand)

 

Sydney Thunder: Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka), Sam Billings (England)

The introduction of the multi-year provision enables each club to sign one overseas female and male player for up to three years outside of the draft, securing high-profile talent for clubs on a longer-term basis.

All remaining overseas players must be secured by clubs via either the draft on September 1, or alternatively, signed as a replacement player in place of a full-time squad member post-draft.

Players signed under the pre-draft provision must be available for the entire season from WBBL|11 and BBL|15 onwards. All of the BBL internationals pre-signed so far have confirmed full availability for this summer, but Perth and the Sixers may not have their pre-signed New Zealand stars for the full season, pending international commitments. 

Pre-signed players will not appear on the nominations list, but must still be selected by their club during the draft with a pick that matches the salary band of their playing contract.

Draft salary bands

Both the BBL|14 and WBBL|10 Drafts consist of four rounds, with all clubs receiving one pick in each round. 

On draft night, clubs can select a player who has made themselves available to be drafted in one of four overseas player salary bands: Platinum (Round 1 or 2), Gold (Round 2 or 3), Silver (Round 3 or 4) or Bronze (Round 4 only).

Clubs must select a minimum of two players via the draft, in addition to any pre-signed player.

The tenth edition of the WBBL slots into a hectic schedule for Australia's players, beginning one week after the T20 World Cup final and ending four days before the first CommBank ODI against India in Brisbane.

There's also clashes with international series that will impact the availability of some players. India will host New Zealand in three ODIs immediately after the T20 World Cup, likely ruling those players out of the very early stages of WBBL|10, while South Africa will host England in a multi-format series beginning with three T20Is on November 24.

Bangladesh are also due to host Ireland in three ODIs and three T20Is from early December.

However, Stars pre-sign recruit Kapp has already confirmed she will miss those T20Is and be available for the entire WBBL season, while how late English players can remain will be known to clubs prior to the draft.

No other tours are planned during the WBBL window.

The availability of all female and male draft nominees is expected to be revealed along with the full list of names prior to the September 1 event.