The BBL and WBBL overseas player drafts have been scheduled for Sunday, September 3, before the upcoming season kicks off.

The draft process will comprise four rounds, each focusing on different categories of players for selection:

• Round 1: Platinum Only
• Round 2: Platinum and Gold
• Round 3: Gold and Silver
• Round 4: Silver and Bronze

Alistair Dobson, CA’s General Manager of Big Bash Leagues, expressed the significance of the draft order confirmation for list managers and high-performance staff in shaping their strategies for the forthcoming seasons. With two drafts and the possibility of trading draft picks, the clubs are preparing for a busy and exciting time.

World-class cricketers have already been nominated for the WBBL and BBL drafts, and their names, along with players elevated to the Platinum List, will be revealed in the next month.

BBL Draft Lottery Results:

• 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

WBBL Draft Lottery Results:

• 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

In: Rilee Rossouw, David Warner, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Sam Whiteman, Usman Qadir
Out: Sam Billings, Usman Khawaja, Jonathan Cook, Saqib Mahmood, Chris Tremain, Mohammad Hasnain

What happened in the draft
It felt like they had done well with Alex Hales, David Willey, and Rilee Rossouw. Willey was an enticing platinum pick with his availability for most of the season, but he recently withdrew from the deal sending Thunder back to the drawing board and they brought in Afghanistan left-armer Fazalhaq Farooqi. Hales will return to his long-term club on the back of T20 World Cup success and Rossouw has had an impressive season in the format. Both, however, will only be around until early January.

Last season: Knockout
Thunder reached the finals on the back of a strong mid-season run where they won six games on the bounce including a 129-run hammering of Melbourne Renegades where Daniel Sams hit an astonishing 98 off 44 balls. But they fell short against Adelaide Strikers where they had got the equation down to 39 off 23 balls then 14 off the last over which Harry Conway was able to defend. Jason Sangha led the run-scoring with 445 at 49.44 and a strike-rate of 132.04 and Sams was the leading wicket-taker with 19 although Tanveer Sangha and Gurinder Sandhu were the most consistent performers.

International impact-
The return of David Warner to the BBL was the big off-season story, but the window for his availability after the South Africa series may shrink with the squad due to depart for India in late January. Still, when he does suit up in green it will be one of the most anticipated moments of the tournament – especially the derby clash with Steven Smith’s Sydney Sixers. Beyond that, and the overseas players, Thunder are unlikely to be hit by international call-ups as they have no one else in the Test set-up with Usman Khawaja having moved to Brisbane Heat.

Key player
Daniel Sams is another player who might feel he has a part to play in the future of Australia’s T20 side after being on the fringes in recent seasons. For Thunder, he will have a big role to play with bat and ball, although the later bringing down his economy rate a touch may help his international ambitions. In terms of batting, it will be interesting to see how and where he is used. As he showed last season with that 98 he has the potential to be destructive, although that inning was an outlier in the campaign. But since then he has produced equally powerful innings in the T20 Blast (71 off 24 balls) and the Hundred (55 off 25 balls).

Young player to watch-
Tanveer Sangha’s stress fracture is a blow to their bowling attack, but Oliver Davies caused instant excitement when he struck two quickfire innings at the start of his BBL career in late 2020, but things have been tougher since then making 74 in 11 innings. The early stages of this season were hindered as he came back from a hip injury but in November in made 115 off 106 balls playing for the combined NSW/ACT XI against West Indies in Canberra.

“It was a big blow,” Sangha told reporters on Thursday. “I wasn’t expecting it at all. “But I’m going to try and come back as quick as I can.” The promising leg spinner has already been involved in the national set-up, playing for Australia A against Sri Lanka A in June, and has been touted as a potential long-term replacement for Nathan Lyon when the legendary off-spinner eventually retires.

With Australia set for a four-Test tour of spinners’ paradise India in February, Sangha would’ve been hoping for a big BBL season to impress selectors. But he insists Test cricket is the least of his worries at the moment. “I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself,” he said. “I’ve got a long career ahead so I just want to focus on my body right now so I can prevent it from happening in the future.”
Another potential bolter for inclusion in the Test squad is BBL cross-town rival Todd Murphy.

Despite having played just seven first-class matches, the 22-year-old Sydney Sixers off-spinner has impressed for Victoria in his young Sheffield Shield career. Sixers teammate and fellow spinner Steve O’Keefe backed Murphy for selection for the India tour but the youngster was a bit more circumspect.

“I would love to (play in India),” Murphy told AAP. “But that sort of stuff will take care of itself. “I’m still only young in my first-class career so if that opportunity arose I’d be stoked but if it doesn’t it’s not going to worry me either.” The Sixers are blessed with a formidable spin roster this season, with Murphy set to line up alongside veteran O’Keefe, exciting Afghan leg spinner Izharulhaq Naveed and Lyon when he returns from Test duties.

Murphy says he can’t wait to have his mentor Lyon back in the squad. “The week or two I had with him last year at the Sixers just to be able to compare things and just chat about spin bowling was awesome,” he said. “We stay in touch and he’s been good to me and always said that if you need anything he’s willing to help out.”

Both Murphy and Sangha will be familiar with Indian conditions having spent 10 days on a coaching tour of Chennai in August. Sangha says the experience has left him in good stead if he is allowed to play cricket in India for Australia. “If I do go over there, I know I have some sort of basic knowledge, a few tips, and tricks I can use on slower wickets,” Sangha said.