Ben Duckett and Laurie Evans were among a host of England players drafted in for the 14th edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). Duckett, who had played for Brisbane Heat in 2021-22, was the first pick for Melbourne Stars (platinum category), while Perth Scorchers opted to not use their retention pick for Laurie Evans, who was selected by Melbourne Renegades.
Renegades, who had pick No. 2, originally chose James Vince, but Sydney Sixers used the retention pick to get their opener back despite him not being available for the full season. Sixers, who were last in the order of the picks for the first two rounds, allotted a gold category for West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein, whom they had pre-signed though he is available for only seven games. Evans aside, Renegades also drafted Jacob Bethell, the England batter who has earned a maiden call-up for the white-ball series against Australia later this month.
Shai Hope was selected for the first time in the competition. He was Hobart Hurricanes' pick in the platinum category, with the influence of head coach Ricky Ponting - who was at Delhi Capitals in the same capacity at IPL 2024 and worked with Hope - on show. Chris Jordan, who Hurricanes pre-signed for two years, was also allotted the platinum category while Bangladesh legspinner Rishad Hossain rounded up their draft. Rishad made his international debut last year and established himself in Bangladesh's T20I set-up, and the BBL will be his first T20 competition outside of the Bangladesh Premier League.
Defending champions Heat managed to get back their tall, left-arm fast bowler Paul Walter back in the second round after they pre-signed Colin Munro in the platinum category. Sussex and Trent Rockets batter Tom Alsop was in for his BBL debut, rounding up their picks. Apart from Duckett, Stars also selected Pakistan legspinner Usama Mir and assigned a second player to the platinum category in Tom Curran, with whom they had inked a two-year deal.
Adelaide Strikers, who had pre-signed Ollie Pope in the golden category, drafted allrounder Jamie Overton in the platinum category and West Indies allrounder Fabian Allen in the third round. Sydney Thunder allocated the platinum category to their pre-signing Sam Billings and drafted in New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson (also platinum) and West Indies finisher Sherfane Rutherford (silver).
As many as seven teams passed on making picks across the last two rounds, but Scorchers went a bit left-field. Lancashire wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Hurst, who opened the batting with Phil Salt in the men's Hundred for Manchester Originals after Jos Buttler's injury, scoring 149 runs at a strike rate of 161.95, was signed, and Keaton Jennings was Scorchers' last pick of the evening. Minutes later, Sixers drafted in Yorkshire legspinner Jafer Chohan as their final player. He had picked up 17 wickets in the T20 Blast this year.
Overall, 14 English players will be part of BBL 14.
How the BBL draft played out
Melbourne Stars: Ben Duckett (platinum), Tom Curran (pre-signed, platinum), Usama Mir (silver)
Melbourne Renegades: Laurie Evans (platinum), Jacob Bethell (gold), Tim Seifert (pre-signed, gold)
Sydney Thunder: Lockie Ferguson (platinum), Sam Billings (pre-signed, platinum), Sherfane Rutherford (silver)
Hobart Hurricanes: Shai Hope (platinum), Chris Jordan (pre-signed, platinum), Rishad Hossain (bronze)
Adelaide Strikers: Jamie Overton (platinum), Ollie Pope (pre-signed, gold), Fabian Allen (silver)
Brisbane Heat: Colin Munro (pre-signed, platinum), Paul Walter (gold), Tom Alsop (bronze)
Perth Scorchers: Finn Allen (pre-signed, platinum), Matthew Hurst (silver), Keaton Jennings (bronze)
Sydney Sixers: James Vince (retained, platinum), Akeal Hosein (pre-signed, gold), Jafer Chohan (bronze)