Draft bolters: The new faces set for maiden BBL stint

An old teammate of Stars coach David Hussey and a self-styled "part-time handyman" to the Heat are among the lesser-known players to Australian audiences who are now set to make their Big Bash debuts this summer.

A total of 24 foreign players were picked up in the inaugural Big Bash draft with 15 of those having featured in the competition previously and nine set for their maiden campaign in KFC BBL|12.

Kiwi superstar Trent Boult, who was released from his New Zealand Cricket central contract earlier this month to play in T20 leagues around the world, headlines the list of new faces alongside compatriot Colin de Grandhomme.

The 33-year-old left-armer – the world's top-ranked ODI bowler – has never played in the Big Bash and outside of New Zealand's Super Smash competition, he has only ever played in the Indian Premier League where he has collected 92 wickets in eight seasons.

"I've been released from that (central) contract so there's more freedom to participate in stuff like this and a few opportunities have jumped at me, so it's pretty cool to be part of the first (BBL) draft," said Boult.

"The big one has been the IPL and the opportunities I've had there, but I've always said the most enjoyable thing is getting to share a changeroom with guys you're not normally in a changeroom with and there's some exciting names in the Stars line-up already."

Image Id: 55DA9438B0C24D3599B5B9E1347EDD5E Image Caption: Trent Boult will play in the Big Bash for the first time this summer // Getty

The Hobart Hurricanes and their new head of strategy, Ricky Ponting, had one of the more interesting draft strategies as they opted for three Pakistan internationals – leg-spinner Shadab Khan who returns for his third season in the competition and fresh faces in middle-order power-hitter Asif Ali and allrounder Faheem Ashraf.

Although disadvantaged after drawing the last pick in the weighted lottery on July 20 that determined the order of the draft, Ponting told cricket.com.au the Hurricanes got who they wanted.

"Shadab was our number one priority, we needed quality spin, which was a big hole that we had in our current squad, so we're a little bit surprised that he got to eight, but we couldn't grab him quick enough then," Ponting said.

Ponting revealed English batter Laurie Evans was their first choice for pick 16 in round two, but they had planned for the Scorchers to retain him, with Asif their next choice.

"To get three Pakistanis together I think it'll make life a whole lot easier for them and probably make transitioning into our side a whole lot easier as well so that we couldn't be happier, we filled all the gaps we wanted to fill," the 168-Test veteran said.

"Asif Ali's a powerful middle-order player, we really want to strengthen our power in the latter overs with Tim David, him, Shadab and (Matthew) Wade, so he fits the bill really well.

Image Id: E644664A92584452863394B9F867633E Image Caption: Asif Ali scored three against Australia in a T20I in Lahore in April // AFP

"(Faheem) is a right-arm fast bowler, a strong left-hand middle-order striker at the end, we were looking once again for full-time availability which he will give."

Faheem, who had been signed by the Melbourne Renegades ahead of BBL|09 but never played for the club, boasts 42 matches of T20 international experience for Pakistan and has featured in T20 leagues in Pakistan and Bangladesh where he has a best return of 6-19, while Asif has played 40 T20Is for his country and has scored 4,041 runs striking at almost 150 from 233 career matches across tournaments in the Caribbean, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Canada and Nepal.

Three Afghans, three New Zealanders, three Pakistanis, South African Rilee Rossouw (pick 18 to Sydney Thunder) and West Indies' Akeal Hosein (pick 25 to Melbourne Renegades) were selected by Big Bash clubs last night with Luke Wood, Hussey's former teammate at Nottinghamshire almost 10 years ago, one of 13 Englishmen picked up in the BBL|12 Draft.

The left-arm quick has collected 23 wickets this season playing for the Trent Rockets in the Hundred and alongside Hurricanes' power-hitter David at Lancashire in the T20 Blast.

"He was only a pup then but he's moved to Lancashire and watching him from afar, he swings the ball up front, has a fast bouncer, slogs the ball out of the stadium and is a ripping person and I think he's going to fit in really well at the Melbourne Stars," Hussey told cricket.com.au.

Another little-known Englishman selected in the draft was Warwickshire and Northern Superchargers batter Adam Hose to the Strikers with pick 20.

Image Id: F524C6E0C9D24EF69DDD11E86460C277

The 29-year-old averages 32.49 striking at 149.37 across his 87 T20 matches to date with two half centuries in his past three innings for the Superchargers in the Hundred.

"He comes with a pretty good pedigree and what he's done in recent time, his numbers are fantastic," Strikers head coach Jason Gillespie told cricket.com.au.

"We've got a couple of young guys in our squad in the middle-order … so we felt (we needed) someone in the middle-order who has done it for a while and can provide a bit of power in the middle to end of the innings.

Image Id: BD08AA5FD32948B2B9D23427C40D3EDD Image Caption: Akeal Hosein is the West Indies top white-ball bowler this year // AFP

"We certainly believe de Grandhomme and Hose with (their) power and experience can really complement the rest of our top-order batting."

Ross Whiteley, whose describes himself as a "pro cricketer" and "part-time handyman" is another English batter set to play in the Big Bash for the first time this summer after being selected by the Heat with pick 27.

The 33-year-old has experience in the PSL and BPL and has 2,955 T20 runs striking at 141.25 and is a teammate of new Heat skipper Usman Khawaja from his time at Derbyshire in 2011-2012.

"He's been a T20 stalwart for a long time in England, he's played a few tournaments around the world, he's playing in the Hundred at the moment, he's a really good ball striker, hits the ball a long way and he can roll out the odd over too, so a very versatile cricketer," said Khawaja.

Hosein, a left-arm finger spinner who made both his T20I and ODI debuts last year, is the West Indies top wicket-taker in white-ball cricket in 2022 with 46 scalps.

The 29-year-old has a superb economy rate of 6.44 across his T20 career with experience in the Caribbean and Bangladesh leagues.

"We're really happy with Akeal and we're going to throw a lot of spin at the opposition," said Renegades coach David Saker.

Afghan teenage leg-spinner Izharulhaq Naveed is the youngest draftee and will be making his first appearance in the BBL this summer.

Sydney Sixers head coach Greg Shipperd, who selected 18-year-old Izharulhaq with pick 28, said he'd watched the U19 World Cup in the West Indies in January-February this year where he collected 10 wickets with an economy rate of 3.63.

"He spins the ball vigorously both directions and we think he complements our other spinners in Stephen O'Keefe, Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy who are already in our squad, so we think we've got a nice balance of spin bowlers to throw at the competition," he said.

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