BBL overseas draft: Liam Livingstone 1st to be picked, no takers for Russel, Faf du Plessis and Pollard
Aug 29, 2022
Canberra [Australia], August 29 : The BBL (Big Bash League) overseas draft took place on Sunday for the 12th edition of the T-20 tournament to be held from December 13, 2022 - February 04, 2023.
Australian summer is prepared for one of its most entertaining tournaments to be played over two months, witnessing a slew of international stars participating. The overseas draft was conducted for the foreign global stars to be drafted into the BBL's eight teams that will be playing for the trophy of BBL.
The teams chose players in the draft according to their availability and invested smartly in players that would be available for almost the entire tournament.
As per Cricket Australia stars such as Andre Russell, Faf du Plessis and Kieron Pollard could not find a home in the BBL with teams choosing reliability over star power.
Each of the eight KFC BBL clubs chose three internationals from a total of 332 players from 20 countries. The Stars, Thunder, and Hurricanes spent the most on players, while the Scorchers, who amazingly passed in the first round, spent the minimum. Only the 12 platinum ($340,000) players were picked in round one, platinum and gold ($260,000) in round two, gold and silver ($175,000) in round three, and silver and bronze ($100,000) in round four.
Liam Livingstone was the first player to be picked, with Melbourne Renegades grabbing the player in the draft. The English all-rounder has been in high demand for his six-hitting ability coupled with the skill to bowl useful overs in the middle.
Rashid khan, the Afghan leg spinner was chased by Melbourne Stars but the Adelaide Strikers head coach Jason Gillespie used the retention pick to bag the spinner. The Afghan will stay with his previous team.
Trent Boult, the number one ODI bowler went to the Melbourne stars after he forfeited the New Zealand Cricket central contract citing the reason for spending more time with his family. This will the first appearance for the Kiwi bowler in the BBL.
Other notable players who were picked up by the teams were Sam Billings (Brisbane Heat), Chris Jordan (Sydney Sixers), David Willey (Sydney Thunder), and Shadab Khan (Hobart Hurricanes).
The tournament will begin on December 13 with the final being played on February 04.
