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Melbourne Stars get first pick in BBL overseas draft

Dan Lawrence picked 4 for 35 in his four overs Getty Images

For the second season running Melbourne Stars will have pick one in the BBL overseas draft while local rivals Melbourne Renegades will follow as second.

The weighted lottery - split between the four sides who missed finals and those who qualified - has Sydney Sixers, last season's beaten finalists, coming out eighth while defending champions Brisbane Heat will have pick six.

Stars will hope for better fortune with their first pick, potentially a platinum player, than last season when they went for England's Harry Brook only for him to withdraw from the tournament to manage his workload.

Picks can be traded between clubs and that has already happened once with Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Thunder swapping their second-round positions as part of Wes Agar's move to Thunder.

Stars will have the first pick in rounds one, two and four with the order reversing in round three meaning Sixers get pick 17.

The draft will again have four price bands: platinum (AU$420,000), gold (AU$300,000), silver (AU$200,000) and bronze (AU$100,000).

Clubs can sign up to four players overall with one of those available under the new multi-year contract option brought in to try to secure key names ahead of rival T20 leagues. Sam Billings became the first player to agree to a deal under that after signing for three years with Thunder. If a fourth player is selected, they become a club's first overseas replacement.

The WBBL draft order was revealed yesterday with Hobart Hurricanes getting pick one.