T20's biggest names have been overlooked in the inaugural BBL draft with clubs favouring availability over star power.Melbourne Renegades took Liam Livingstone with the first ever Big Bash draft pick but the likes of West Indies duo Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard, and South Africa's Faf du Plessis missed out on selection.Russell, Pollard and du Plessis would have only been available for the first half of KFC BBL|12 before jetting off to rival T20 leagues in the UAE and South Africa, with players such as David Willey (selected by Sydney Thunder with pick seven), Joe Clarke (pick 10 to the Melbourne Stars) and Colin Munro (pick 11 to the Brisbane Heat) available for the entire tournament.Liam Livingstone will play for Melbourne Renegades in the upcoming 12th edition of the Big Bash League after the English batting powerhouse became the first pick of the inaugural draft on Sunday (August 28).
Rashid Khan, Trent Boult and Shadab Khan were among others who headline a list of 24 overseas players selected in the competition's first-ever draft that included 332 overseas players, from 20 countries.Melbourne Stars were vying for Afghanistan legspinner Rashid but he was ultimately retained by Adelaide Strikers for the sixth straight season. Stars eventually went with Boult as their first pick, also a platinum category player. The others to go in the opening round were Sam Billings (Brisbane Heat), Chris Jordan (Sydney Sixers), David Willey (Sydney Thunder) and Shadab Khan (Hobart Hurricanes) while Perth Scorchers 'passed' on their Rd 1 selection.Players were picked from across four different salary bands. Only 12 platinum ($340,000) players could be selected in the first round, platinum and gold ($260,000) in Rd 2, gold and silver ($175,000) in Rd 3 and silver and bronze ($100,000) in Rd 4.Subsequent rounds saw each of Joe Clarke (Stars), Alex Hales (Thunder), Tymal Mills (Scorchers) and James Vince (Sixers) selected by their existing clubs, while Laurie Evans will return to the Scorchers as a 'retention'.The inaugural BBL Draft was a resounding success and the perfect way to begin the countdown to the summer of Big Bash," Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia's General Manager, Big Bash Leagues, said. "The League is delighted to welcome a host of the world's biggest names to the competition, complemented by the next group up and comers." The contracting period for replacement overseas players will commence on Monday (August 29). The eight clubs can contract a maximum of seven overseas players for the season, split as either three primary (via Draft night) and four replacements, or two primary and five replacements.
