The first list of nominees for Weber’s WBBL has been revealed, with several international stars being nominated for it. International Captains Harmanpreet Kaur (India), Sophie Devine (New Zealand), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Suné Luus (South Africa), and Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka) will be part of this historic draft of Weber’s WBBL.
The league also provided the retention eligibility criteria for the event. The player must have been a part of the WBBL team for the past 2 years and hasn’t been contracted to any other team since that time. Must have been in a squad for the previous edition. Approved by the Big Bash Technical Committee due to exceptional circumstances.
📢 BIG NEWS 📢
1️⃣st list of Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) draft nominees unveiled! 🤩
🇮🇳 Harmanpreet Kaur
🇳🇿 Sophie Devine
🇿🇦 Suné Luus
🇱🇰 Chamari Athapaththu
🌴 Hayley Matthews#CricketTwitter— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 2, 2023
Sri Lanka’s captain Athapaththu has been in excellent form of late scoring a total of 303 runs from the last 10 T20I innings at an average of 33.66. The Sri Lankan captain even scored 2 centuries in ODI’s in the span of just 3 matches against New Zealand. Athapaththu is going to be an incredible choice for the teams in their first draft.
Suné Luus in the past 11 games for South Africa in the shortest format of the game has managed to score just 146 runs with an average of 20.85. Luus has a truckload of experience behind her back in the format and her ability to score quick runs as well as striking wickets at crucial times is going to help her team a lot.
West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has already started this year with a bang, by winning the player of the tournament award in the inaugural season of WPL. In the past 10 matches for the islands nation, Matthews has scored a total of 390 runs from 11 innings at an excellent average of 43.33, just like her batting stats, her bowling records have been tremendous too picking 14 wickets in that period. Melbourne Renegades will have an option to retain Hayley Matthews for the season as she has previously played for the franchise.
The white ferns captain Sophie Devine hasn’t quite set her this year’s T20I campaign on fire, with just scoring just 70 runs from 7 innings. She has also been dismissed thrice on duck in those 7 innings. .Irrespective of her recent stats, Devine is an excellent batter who knows how to pace her innings as the match progresses. Perth Scorchers will have the option to retain her for the upcoming campaign.
Indian captain in the past 12 innings has amassed a total of 321 runs at an average of 40.12. Just like Matthews and Athapaththu, Melbourne Renegades will have the option of retaining Kaur for the upcoming season.
Alistair Dobson, BBL General Manager said that, “These players have not only excelled as international captains but have also left an indelible mark on the game of cricket and we are excited at the prospect of these players showcasing their talents in the upcoming WBBL season.”
He further added, ”We thank these players for making themselves available for the upcoming season and look forward to announcing more nominations for the Big Bash Overseas Player Drafts in the coming weeks”
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For the first time this year, a draft system will be used for foreign players in Weber’s WBBL. Earlier players used to sign multi-year deals with the clubs, but starting this year the format has been changed.
The same format was earlier tried in the BBL last season, after seeing how successful it was, league officials have decided to introduce it in the Weber’s WBBL too. All the foreign players participating will first have to nominate themselves for the draft. This draft will only consist of foreign players and not domestic players.
Each team will take a chance to pick a player they want in their squad. The order of this was decided by a two-tiered weighted lottery system which was conducted earlier this year.
The order of this draft is as follows – 1- Sydney Thunder 2- Melbourne Renegades 3- Perth Scorchers 4- Melbourne Stars 5- Hobart Hurricanes 6- Brisbane Heat 7- Sydney Sixers 8- Adelaide Strikers
This draft will be held on 3rd September 2023 (Sunday). There will be a total of 4 rounds in the draft, with each team picking a maximum of 3 players and a minimum of 2 players from those 4 rounds.
More names of the foreign players nominated for the drafts will be revealed soon.
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