Draft card: Sixers opt for 'fight' and 'stability' in BBL|13

Draft picks: Tom Curran (Platinum), James Vince (Gold), Rehan Ahmed (Bronze)

Draft spend: $780,000

Total payment pool post-draft: $2.22m of $3m

By drafting Tom Curran and James Vince in the platinum ($420,000) and gold ($300,000) tiers respectively, the Sydney Sixers locked away two of their six marquee player spots in the draft. Under new contracting rules announced in April – made possible by the new five-year Memorandum of Understanding between CA and the Australian Cricketers' Association – each club's total payments pool for players has increased by almost 58 per cent from $1.9m to $3m for KFC BBL|13.

A part of that $3m, each BBL club must have a minimum of six players (whether domestic, overseas or CA-contracted) who are paid $200,000 or more per season. The six marquee players at each club must collectively be paid a minimum of $1.7m in BBL|13 with all overseas players taken with a silver selection or higher considered marquees, meaning young England leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who the club drafted with a bronze ($100,000) selection, doesn't qualify.

Australia World Cup squad member and the BBL's most prolific bowler of all time, Sean Abbott, would appear the top domestic priority for an upgrade to a marquee contract, while veteran skipper Moises Henriques, star opener Josh Philippe and left-armer Ben Dwarshuis, who is the BBL's fourth highest wicket-taker behind Abbott, could be among the next in line for the remaining marquee spots.

Overseas availability

While he hasn't played for England since July 2021, a strong domestic season has Curran on the fringe of an international recall. England have a T20I series scheduled against the West Indies from December 13-22 but if not picked for that series, Curran should be available for up to nine regular season games before joining the Desert Vipers in the UAE league prior to the BBL|13 finals.

Ahmed, who took 2-27 in his one appearance during England's recent four-match T20I series against New Zealand, could also be in the squad to the West Indies, and having made his Test debut during their last subcontinent tour to Pakistan last year, the 19-year-old is also likely to tour India for England's five-Test series beginning on January 25, meaning his BBL|13 availability will be restricted to between six and nine games.

Meanwhile, club stalwart Vince will be available for the full 10 home-and-away matches before linking up with Gulf Giants in the UAE league. But the Sixers will be allowed to sign overseas replacement players for when the trio are unavailable at the start or end of the tournament, as long as those players were part of the original 353 that nominated but weren't selected in the BBL|13 Draft.

BBL|13 squad (so far): Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Tom Curran (England), Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques (c), Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Todd Murphy, Steve O'Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk

Ins: Joel Davies (Thunder)

Outs: Dan Christian (Retired), Mickey Edwards (Yorkshire), Nathan Lyon (Renegades)

Draft strategy

With three players (Curran, Vince and Chris Jordan) eligible to be retained by the club elevated to the league's 23-strong platinum list, the Sixers faced some tough decisions on draft night. And they were put to the test early when Hobart Hurricanes called out Curran's name with pick three. The Sixers quickly activated their retention rights with head coach Greg Shipperd explaining: "We know what Tom brings … he's a great team player, we think he's got fight in him because he's been injured for a couple of seasons now and he's on his way back to his very best form."

But that left the club vulnerable to lose the other two, as the Hurricanes showed when they snapped up Jordan with the next pick in the draft. With no retention option available to them for the next nine selections, Vince – who behind Alex Hales in the second most prolific overseas batter of all time in the BBL with 1690 runs at 30.72 – was available to any of the seven rival clubs. But nobody took him, and the Sixers duly got the 350-game T20 veteran back to the club for the sixth straight season with the 14th pick in the draft. "We value our stability, we value his leadership and the quality and class at the top of the order," Shipperd said of Vince. "He's helped win titles for us … the combination with Josh Philippe at the top of the order, they work hand in glove together."

With Nathan Lyon crossing to the Melbourne Renegades, and Todd Murphy potentially spending more time away with the Australian side, the Sixers needed to add depth to their spin stocks for BBL|13. They went with England-capped teenage leggie Ahmed who impressed Shane Warne as a 13-year-old and has made enormous strides in the past 12 months after earning a maiden Test call up in Pakistan last December before adding ODI and T20I debuts in March.

Squad gaps

Having reached the final in three of the past four seasons (winning two) and the Challenger last season, the Sixers have consistently had one of the competition's strongest lists. Curran will go some way to filling the void left by retired allrounder Dan Christian, but they'll still be looking for Hayden Kerr to step up when he's not around. With their final two domestic list spots they'll be hoping to secure the return of Steve Smith after his astonishing five-game stint in BBL|12 that included back-to-back centuries. Smith is also eligible the league's new Marquee Supplementary List where the eight BBL clubs can each sign up to two Cricket Australia-contracted players with limited availability and bring them into their squad should the chance arise during the international summer.

The Sixers may also be looking to add some fast-bowling depth to support their strong pace attack of Abbott, Dwarshuis, Jackson Bird, Curran, Kerr and Jack Edwards, while signing another spinner could also be on the cards given the injury troubles veteran tweaker Steve O'Keefe has encountered in the past few years.

Draft Card 2023: Strikers | Heat | Hurricanes | Scorchers | Renegades | Stars | Sixers | Thunder