Last Updated on 1 year by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: List of players in the BBL 2023 draft | Which players are in the draft for the BBL 2023/24 season?
Six established T20 stars have put their names forward for the BBL 2023 draft, to be held on September 3.
Faf du Plessis, Laurie Evans, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Nicholas Pooran and Rilee Rossouw are the first players to nominate for the upcoming draft. While all are unlikely to feature for the entire tournament given the packed international and T20 league calendar at the turn of the New Year, all six can light up the BBL with their power, experience and sheer ability.
However, international players are likely to be available for a higher proportion of the competition given BBL 13 will be cut down to 44 matches.
Six established T20 stars nominated in BBL 2023 draft
Pooran is enjoying a superb 2023. The West Indian recently smashed a memorable 137 off just 55 balls in the inaugural Major League Cricket (MLC) final. He has also played well in the T20 series against India, so any BBL team will be better with Pooran’s services.
Melbourne Stars will have first pick in the draft, and could go for Pooran who played for the franchise back in BBL 10.
Alex Hales, who recently retired from international cricket, is likely to be available until the backend of the season until season two of ILT20 begins. Hales has plenty of BBL experience, with 69 caps and 2,102 runs to his name. He strikes at 150.14 and will be hot property for the upcoming season.
Faf du Plessis’ experience can be invaluable. He scored 163 runs at a strike rate of 153.77 for Perth Scorchers last season.
Rilee Rossouw adds plenty of power to the middle order, as does Laurie Evans, who played a key role in Perth Scorchers’ 2022 title triumph. Evans is back in action after his contract was torn up following a positive anti-doping test shortly before the 2022/23 BBL season. However, he has a hearing later this year, so his availability is in the air.
Colin Munro has also played a key role for Scorchers, part of a BBL career that has yielded 1,138 runs at an average of 33.47 and strike rate of 132.33.
Four salary bands for the BBL draft
A new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Cricket Australia and the players’ union has resulted in a higher payment pool for BBL clubs. The figure is now at $3m, while Platinum level players will earn $420,000; a 23.5% increase on last year.
- Platinum: $420,000
- Gold: $300,000
- Silver: $200,000
- Bronze: $100,000
