
Big Bash League season 15 first overseas draft announced; Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi included in initial list
Jun 10, 2025
New Delhi, [India] June 10 : Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan, seamers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, and all-rounder Shadab Khan are part of the first overseas draft list of Big Bash League (BBL) season 15 released on Tuesday, according to a report from ESPNcricinfo.
The draft will be held on June 19, with Brisbane Heat holding the No. 1 pick and having the first chance to pick a player. Sam Curran and Alex Hales from England, Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee from New Zealand, Sri Lanka's Kusal Perera and West Indies' Shamar Joseph are the other six players in the first draft list of 10 players.
In the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), the Indian pair of Shikha Pandey and Jemimah Rodrigues are in the first nomination list, alongside Deandra Dottin of West Indies and Fatima Sana of Pakistan.
England's Lauren Bell, Sophie Ecclestone, Heather Knight, and Danni Wyatt-Hodge are also on the list, as are the South African pair of Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon.
The draft for the upcoming BBL and WBBL seasons has been brought forward to June to provide clubs with more certainty about player selection. Over 600 overseas players have registered for the BBL and WBBL.
The Heat and Sixers will each have the first selection in the BBL and WBBL drafts this season, respectively. Each draft comprises four rounds, during which every team makes one selection.
Teams have the option of choosing a player who has made themselves available for selection in one of four foreign player salary bands: Platinum (round 1 or 2), Gold (round 2 or 3), Silver (round 3 or 4), or Bronze (round 4 only). Teams are allowed to pass once and must utilise at least three selections, including those of pre-signed players.
The teams have already begun assembling their teams. The foreign players that have already been pre-signed are Jamie Overton and Laura Wolvaardt (Adelaide Strikers), Colin Munro and Nadine de Klerk (Brisbane Heat), Chris Jordan (Hobart Hurricanes), Tim Seifert and Hayley Matthews (Melbourne Renegades), Tom Curran and Marizanne Kapp (Melbourne Stars), Finn Allen and Sophie Devine (Perth Scorchers), Amelia Kerr (Sydney Sixers), and Sam Billings and Chamari Athapaththu (Sydney Thunder).