Dummies Guide to BBL contracts

Confused about the wheeling and dealing going on in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash League off-season? You’re not alone – with the introduction of a second Trade Week ahead of BBL|04 and a few tweaks of the rules for this year’s contracting period, here are your questions answered.

TRADE WEEK

How do the trade weeks work?

• BBL clubs have the ability to trade their players for players at another club, or transfer one of their players to another club in order to free up space on their contract list and salary cap.

• BBL clubs also have the ability to negotiate part payment of a player’s retainer whereby the player’s old club and new club jointly fund the player’s retainer (e.g. a player with a retainer amount of $100,000 is traded from Club A to Club B. Club B is only prepared to pay $80,000, so Club A agrees to cover the balance of $20,000 within their salary cap.  The motivation in this instance is for Club A to free up a spot on their contract list and $80,000 in their salary cap to contract another player).

Why was the trade week introduced?

• With player contracting beginning in May, and the BBL season not starting until December, it is very difficult for clubs to predict which players will be available. As a result, the BBL Trade Week was introduced to give BBL clubs greater flexibility to respond to changes in player availability by enabling contracted players to be traded. It also allows players on multi-year contracts to seek opportunities at other clubs if required due to changed circumstances.

• This trade week (at the start of the contracting process) was introduced this year as a result of clubs expressing a desire to explore trades at the beginning of contracting in order to address any shortcomings in their squad which they had identified during the prior season.

When is Trade week two?

Trade week two begins on Monday November 17 – a month out from BBL|04.

CONTRACTING PERIOD

What is the contracting period?

• The contracting period is simply the time in which BBL clubs are free to sign players. Prior to the contracting period, clubs are only allowed to talk with players, but are embargoed from reaching any agreements.

• Moving forward, the BBL embargo period will likely be shortened to allow clubs a greater window during which to sign players.

How many players have to be signed by each club?

• Each club must have a minimum squad of 18 players. Ten of those players must be contracted by July 11, and the remaining eight have to be signed by Friday December 5 – the end of the contracting period.

Where do overseas players fit in?

• A club can only contract two overseas players in its squad of 18. If either overseas player is unavailable, a replacement overseas player may be contracted for the period of their expected unavailability. However, only a maximum of four overseas players over the course of a season are allowed to be contracted (two primary overseas players and two replacement overseas players), and there can be no more than two in the squad of 18 at any one time.

Can local players replace those already in the 18?

• Clubs can contract local replacement players if a player becomes unavailable due to national team commitments, is injured, or is unavailable as a result of exceptional circumstances.

• Because clubs are still expected to utilise their squad of 18 in the event of the above, a local replacement player must be included and play in the club’s starting XI or be selected as twelfth man for the match immediately following their inclusion in the squad.

What’s the deal with the two rookie players?

• As per last season, each BBL club will be required to contract one community rookie and one development rookie.

• The community rookie contracts came about as part of a wider plan to provide opportunities to players who might not otherwise be identified by one of Australian cricket’s pathway programs. Community rookies contracts may comprise of players from rural communities, those with an indigenous background, low socio-economic areas, and those from non-English speaking backgrounds.

• The Development Rookie Contracts will be available to players under 21 who are eligible to represent Australia under the ICC’s eligibility criteria.

• Community and development rookies do not form part of their BBL club’s squad of 18 players but can be signed as a local replacement player.

How much cash does each team have to spend on players?

• Each BBL club has what’s called a ‘retainer pool’ of $1.2m for BBL|04 (rising from last season’s $1.05m cap).

Which players from which clubs are currently under contract?

• Adelaide Strikers: Phil Hughes, Adam Zampa, Michael Neser, Callum Ferguson, Michael Klinger

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• Brisbane Heat: Joe Burns, Daniel Christian, Peter Forrest, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Chris Lynn, Alister McDermott, Luke Pomersbach, Dan Vettori (OS), Shane Watson

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• Hobart Hurricanes: Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Travis Birt, Evan Gulbis, Joe Mennie, Cameron Boyce, Sam Rainbird, Jonathan Wells

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• Melbourne Renegades: Fawad Ahmed, Tom Cooper, Alex Doolan, Aaron Finch, Jayde Herrick, Peter Nevill, Aaron O'Brien, James Pattinson, Nathan Rimmington, Ben Rohrer, Peter Siddle

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• Melbourne Stars: Jackson Bird, James Faulkner, Peter Handscomb, John Hastings, David Hussey, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Rob Quiney, Clive Rose, Cameron White, Daniel Worrall, Luke Wright (OS).

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• Perth Scorchers: Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, Sam Whiteman, Ashton Agar, Joel Paris, Hilton Cartwright, Ashton Turner, Michael Beer.

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• Sydney Sixers: Sean Abbott, Trent Copeland, Benjamin Dwarshuis, Brad Haddin, Josh Hazelwood, Michael Lumb (OS), Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson, Marcus North, Stephen O'Keefe, Jordan Silk, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc

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• Sydney Thunder: Cameron Borgas, Daniel Hughes, Michael Hussey, Usman Khawaja, Dirk Nannes, Kurtis Patterson, Gurinder Sandhu, Christopher Tremain, David Warner

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