Taylor eyes BBL swansong as final draft nominees revealed

New Zealand great Ross Taylor is eyeing a Big Bash swansong to his stellar 20-year career after putting his name up for selection in Sunday's inaugural BBL overseas player draft.

The league today confirmed a final list of 332 players nominees for the KFC BBL|12 Draft with Pakistan quintet Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Abdullah Shafique, Yasir Shah and Imam-ul-Haq also among a 54 player nominations received shortly before the August 21 deadline.

Taylor, who represented his country 450 times in all three formats after debuting for New Zealand in March 2006, retired from international cricket in April this year.

He is New Zealand's fourth highest run-scorer in T20 format with 6,429 striking at 131.31 with a top score of 111 not out for Central Districts in New Zealand's domestic T20 competition in January 2008.

He has never played in the Big Bash as the season traditionally clashes with New Zealand's home summer but has fond memories of Australia with his highest Test score – an epic 290 across a marathon nine hours – coming in Perth in November 2015.

Image Id: 06316D6D5CDB44EDA1A247C7CE110A26 Image Caption: Taylor retired from international cricket in April // Getty

A total of 20 countries will be represented in Sunday's draft which will be broadcast live on Foxtel and Kayo Sports from 6.30pm following Australia's Dettol ODI series opener against Zimbabwe.

Will Smeed – who hit the first ever century in England's Hundred competition with 101no off 50 balls for Birmingham Phoenix earlier this month – is another late entrant to the draft talent pool.

Taylor looks likely to be available for the entire Big Bash tournament while Smeed will be available until early January having been recruited by the Mumbai Indians-owned MI Emirates franchise for UAE's new T20 league.

Fakhar (Brisbane Heat) and Hasnain (Sydney Thunder) are two of 28 players able to be retained after featuring in BBL|11 last summer.

How clubs weigh up drafting the best players or those with the best availability will be an intriguing subplot in Sunday's draft with a host of foreign stars set to join rival T20 leagues in South Africa and the UAE from early January.

The league on Monday unveiled the 12 platinum-level players eligible to be taken in the first round of the draft, with England left-armer David Willey likely to be only one available for the entire season as he is yet to be picked up by a team in another league.

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Platinum BBL|12 Draft list

Faf du Plessis (South Africa)

Jason Roy (England)

Liam Livingstone (England)

Sam Billings (England)

Kieron Pollard (West Indies)

Andre Russell (West Indies)

David Willey (England)

Shadab Khan (Pakistan)

Dwayne Bravo (West Indies)

Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)

Chris Jordan (England)

Trent Boult (New Zealand)

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Shadab is expected to be unavailable for a period in mid-January when Pakistan play home ODI and T20 series against New Zealand and the West Indies while the rest of the platinum-level players have been signed by other franchises in the South Africa and UAE leagues and will depart the Big Bash in early January.

Melbourne Stars BBL|11 recruit Joe Clarke – who is also eligible for retention – presents the best value in terms of availability the gold salary band and is understood to be available for the entire tournament, while Nepal spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, West Indies quick Obed McCoy and South African power-hitter Rilee Rossouw are also available at the gold-level.

Under the BBL Draft rules, only the 12 platinum ($340,000) players are eligible to be picked in the first round, while platinum or gold ($260,000) level players can be taken in the second round, gold and silver ($175,000) players in the third round and silver and bronze ($100,000) in the fourth and final round.

Most overseas talent is available for both gold and silver categories, with BBL regulars such as Alex Hales, James Vince, Qais Ahmad, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Tom Curran, Carlos Brathwaite, Zahir Khan and Reece Topley only available until early January having signed deals in rival leagues.

It's understood players in the gold and silver bands with full availability include Perth Scorchers BBL|11 recruits Colin Munro and Laurie Evans (both eligible to be retained), former South Australian quick Daniel Worrall and England's George Garton (also able to be retained by the Strikers) and Pakistan quartet Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Hafeez.

Sri Lanka's second Test hero Dinesh Chandimal is also understood to be available for most of the tournament, while likely England Test squad members Matthew Potts, Zak Crawley and Craig Overton will be available following their three-Test tour of Pakistan from December 1-21.

Former Australian and BBL great Mike Hussey said BBL|12 was shaping as one of the most anticipated seasons yet with several Aussie Test players also set to be available for their clubs in January following the three-match series against South Africa.

"It should be a fascinating draft but a very important one in giving teams the best chance of success in this edition of the BBL," Hussey said.

Image Id: https://www.cricket.com.au/~/media/News/2022/07/BBL-draft-order?la=en&hash=4AE6FB0B4F134F189B20FE1111E0BA90E8F9850C Image Caption: The order for the BBL|12 Draft has been determined

The BBL|12 Draft will be held on Sunday, August 28 and broadcast live on Foxtel and Kayo Sports following the first ODI between Australia and Zimbabwe in Townsville.

Click here for a full list of players to have nominated for the BBL|12 Draft.