All you need to know for the 2024 Big Bash drafts

When is the draft?

The draft for both leagues will take place this Sunday, September 1, in Melbourne.

This year will be the third season the KFC BBL has held an overseas player draft, and the second for the Weber WBBL.

How can I watch it?

The drafts will be broadcast live across The Seven Network, 7plus, Fox Sports and Kayo Sports. The WBBL|10 Draft will begin at 3pm AEST, with the BBL|14 Draft to follow immediately after.

Cricket.com.au will be at the draft and will have you covered with the latest news and highlights on our website and across our social channels.

Make sure you download the Big Bash app to stay in the loop on the latest draft news, nominations and a live pick tracker.

How does the draft work?

The rules are the same across both the WBBL and BBL. Clubs will take turns selecting from the available players across four rounds.

Clubs must select a minimum of two overseas players in the draft, and must allocate one of their picks to their pre-draft overseas player signing in a round that matches the salary band of that player's contract.

Clubs are no longer required to pass in this year's draft and may select up to four players if they wish, and salary cap permitting. One of the four would be considered an overseas replacement player with only three international players permitted on a club's primary list of 18 at any one time during the tournament.

On draft day, 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).

For the BBL's Platinum players, their salary will fluctuate depending on their availability. Players with full availability with receive the full $420,000. If they play 10 matches, that is reduced to $400,000, and down to $380,000 for nine matches. Platinum selections that play up to eight matches will earn $360,000.

This year, players have been able to nominate themselves for the Platinum round rather than the league, with the majority of male and female nominees taking up this option.

The 16 players contracted before the drafts under the league's new multi-year pre-signing mechanism for overseas players will not appear on the nominations list but must be selected by their club during the draft with a pick that matches the salary band of their playing contract.

How many players are available to be drafted?

Almost 600 overseas players have thrown their hat in the ring to be drafted, from 30 countries, that include all the major cricketing nations, as well as further afield like Hong Kong, Uganda, Japan, Greece, Indonesia and Romania.

There are 161 players up for selection in the WBBL|10 Draft, and 432 men included in the BBL|14 Draft pool.

You can see every player eligible for the WBBL|10 and BBL|14 drafts, and their availability and retention rights, on the Big Bash app.

Who picks first?

In the WBBL, Hobart Hurricanes have the first pick after winning the weighted lottery held in June.

For the BBL, Melbourne Stars will pick first for the second year in a row.

The first two rounds of the draft will flow in the order clubs were drawn in the lottery, before round three snakes back in reverse order.

For example, in the BBL draft the Stars will pick first in the first and second rounds of the draft, but last in the third round and first again in the fourth round. 

Any trades?

Now in its second year, trading picks is slowly growing in popularity with two deals this year – double the number of the previous draft.

In the BBL, Adelaide Strikers improved their second-round position by two spots, sending paceman Wes Agar to the Sydney Thunder with the two clubs also exchanging their second-round picks – the Strikers receiving pick 11 following the weighted lottery and Thunder pick 13.

The Strikers were also involved in a WBBL pick trade, sending picks 19 and 30 to the Melbourne Renegades and receiving 22 and 27 in return.

Can teams keep players from last year?

Yes, this is called a Retention pick, and each club has one to use per draft. Pre-signed overseas players don't affect retention picks either, with each club still eligible to retain one player in the BBL|14 and WBBL|10 drafts.

There are some rules: A Retention pick must be used by a club in the same round that a rival club selects their desired player, and can only be used by a club that hasn't already picked a player in that round. And a club has a 45-second time limit to activate their retention pick.

The Stars, for example, hold WBBL retention rights for England batters Sophia Dunkley and Alice Capsey but would only be able to retain one if both are picked in the same round of the draft.

Brisbane Heat championship hero 'Tall Paul' Walter, destructive Englishman Laurie Evans (Perth Scorchers) and Sydney Sixers stalwart James Vince are among the top retention prospects in the men's draft.

How are Retention rights determined?

Players are eligible for retention if they fit any of the following criteria:

• Was drafted by a Big Bash team in the previous contract year
• Have been in a Big Bash team squad for a minimum of two years (at least one of which was in the past three seasons) and hasn't been contracted to another team since
• Was in a Big Bash team's squad of 13 for a game in the previous season
• Is otherwise approved by the Big Bash Technical Committee due to exceptional circumstances

Players eligible for retention have been colour-coded in the handy interactive list of every nominated player, which is available on the Big Bash app.

Wait, some overseas players have already signed?

Another new feature this year has been the introduction of a multi-year contract option that allows clubs to pre-sign one men's and women's overseas player for up to a maximum of three years ahead of the drafts.

The contracting mechanism has been introduced to help retain and attract new international players amid an increasingly competitive global T20 landscape.

From WBBL|11 and BBL|15 onwards, these players are required to be available for the entire season including finals.

Who are the pre-signed players?

What is player availability like?

Availability has been a massive factor in the first two BBL drafts with a glut of international cricket and rival domestic T20 leagues, primarily in South Africa and the UAE, eating into the men's Big Bash window.

Pre-signed players Colin Munro, Sam Billings, Chris Jordan, Tim Seifert, Tom Curran and Finn Allen have all declared their full availability for the upcoming season. For the rest of the nominees, it's a mixed bag with players falling between full availability including finals, full regular season availability, 6-9 games and 4-6 games.

With that in mind, don't be surprised if clubs again shun some of the biggest names because of their limited availability in favour of lesser-known picks that could play more games.

While the WBBL has fewer problems with availability due to carving out its own slice of the calendar for women's cricket, bilateral international cricket is beginning to eat into this window.

The milestone 10th edition of the WBBL will also begin just a week after the ICC women's T20 World Cup in the UAE and end four days before the first CommBank ODI against India in Brisbane.

India will host New Zealand in three ODIs immediately after the T20 World Cup, likely ruling players from those countries 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.

However, the Stars' South African pre-sign recruit Marizanne Kapp has already confirmed she will miss those T20Is and be available for the entire WBBL season, while the England players' availability varies between six and nine matches, meaning they will miss finals.

You can check out the availability of every nominated player on the Big Bash app.