The inaugural draft for the foreign players in Weber’s Women’s Big Bash League is just around the corner. With less than 2 days left for the iconic event, teams have already started shortlisting the players they want, based on the list of 116 players who have been nominated for the draft.
But, the draft is not the only way by which the clubs can sign international players, there is a separate path called Direct Nomination too! If a player chooses to go this way, she would have to lose a significant amount of money, but she would have the luxury of selecting the club she wants if multiple clubs approach the player.
The direct nomination path removes the draft system from the action, it enables the players to directly communicate/negotiate with the club they wish to play with (If the clubs haven’t fulfilled the overseas players’ criteria). But there’s a catch, the players who want to to go by this path will earn a maximum 95% of the silver tier salary cap. This essentially means that there will be a salary cap for these players at a price of AUD 61,750 (₹3311074).
Six international stars have decided to go by this path, they are – English trio Tammy Beaumont, Amy Jones, Sophia Dunkley, South African duo Lizelle Lee and Mignon du Preez as well as White Ferns’ player Suzie Bates.
In the previous edition, Tammy Beaumont played for the Sydney Thunders, scoring 194 runs from 11 innings at a strike rate of 119.01. Whereas her compatriot Amy Jones who was also part of the thunders, scored 210 runs from 9 innings at a strike rate of 103.44. At the same time, Sophia Dunkley didn’t feature in the previous edition.
Proteas’ opener Lizelle Lee was a part of Hobart Hurricanes in the previous edition, where she scored 296 runs from 14 innings at a decent strike rate of 117.92. Her compatriot, Mignon du Preez was also a part of the Hobart-based club. She was the tournament’s 4th highest run-scorer, as she accumulated a whopping 380 runs from 14 innings at a strike rate of 121.40.
White Ferns’ former skipper Bates was a part of Sydney Sixers in the previous season, the club for which she scored 318 runs from 14 innings at a strike rate of 104.60. Bates was instrumental in the Sixers’ run to the finals.
The draft will happen on 3rd September in NEP Studios in South Melbourne at 5:30 PM Australian time. It will be interesting to see where these 6 players land upcome the start of the tournament.