All you need to know for the 2025 Big Bash drafts

When is the draft?

The draft for both leagues will take place this Thursday, June 19, in Melbourne.

The Big Bash drafts have been brought forward by more than two months this year in a bid to widen the talent pool and ensure the league continues to attract the biggest global stars. An early draft will also help clubs plan their list management better. 

This year will be the fourth season the KFC BBL has held an overseas player draft, and the third for the Weber WBBL.

How can I watch it?

The drafts will be broadcast live across the Seven Network, 7plus, Fox Sports and Kayo Sports. The BBL|14 Draft will begin at 4pm AEST, with the WBBL|11 Draft to follow immediately after.

Victoria/Tasmania/Queensland/NSW: 7mate, 7plus Sport, Foxtel and Kayo Sports from 4pm AEST

 

South Australia/Northern Territory: 7plus Sport, Foxtel and Kayo Sports from 3.30pm ACST, 7mate from 4pm ACST

 

Western Australia: 7plus Sport, Foxtel and Kayo Sports from 2pm AWST, 7mate from 3.30pm AWST

Cricket.com.au will be at the draft and will have you covered with the latest news and highlights on our website and across our social channels.

Make sure you download the Big Bash app to stay in the loop on the latest draft news, nominations and a live pick tracker.

How does the draft work?

The rules are the same across both the WBBL and BBL. Clubs will take turns selecting from the available players across four rounds.

Clubs must select a minimum of two overseas players in the draft, and must allocate one of their picks to their pre-draft overseas player signing in a round that matches the salary band of that player's contract.

Clubs are no longer required to pass in this year's draft and may select up to four players if they wish, and salary cap permitting. One of the four would be considered an overseas replacement player with only three international players permitted on a club's primary list of 15 (WBBL) or 18 (BBL) at any one time during the tournament.

On draft day, clubs can select a player who has made themselves available to be drafted in one of four overseas player salary bands: Platinum (Round 1 or 2), Gold (Round 2 or 3), Silver (Round 3 or 4) or Bronze (Round 4 only).

For the BBL's Platinum players, their salary will fluctuate depending on their availability. Players with full availability with receive the full $420,000. If they play 10 matches, that is reduced to $400,000, and down to $380,000 for nine matches. Platinum selections that play up to eight matches will earn $360,000.

Players are able to nominate themselves for the Platinum round, with the majority of male and female nominees taking up this option.

The players contracted before the drafts under the league's new multi-year pre-signing mechanism for overseas players will not appear on the nominations list but must be selected by their club during the draft with a pick that matches the salary band of their playing contract.

How many players are available to be drafted?

More than 600 overseas players have thrown their hat in the ring to be drafted, from 30 countries, that include all the major cricketing nations, as well as further afield like Hong Kong, Rwanda, Japan, Greece, Indonesia and Hungary.

There are 145 players up for selection in the WBBL|11 Draft, and 440 men included in the BBL|15 Draft pool.

You can see every player eligible for the WBBL|11 and BBL|15 drafts, and their availability and retention rights, on the Big Bash app.

Who picks first?

Sydney Sixers scored big at the WBBL|11 Draft lottery as they overcame long odds for the second straight year to secure the converted No.1 pick for the first time.

The Sixers, who had a 20 per cent chance of receiving pick one after finishing sixth last season, will get first dibs on the best overseas talent for WBBL|11 after being drawn first in a weighted lottery, with Adelaide Strikers getting pick two, followed by Melbourne Stars (pick 3) and Perth Scorchers (pick 4).

In the BBL, the Heat, who finished seventh in BBL|14 and therefore had a 30 per cent chance of being drawn first in a weighted lottery to determine the draft order, ended the run of Melbourne-based clubs scoring the No.1 pick.

The first two rounds of the draft will flow in the order clubs were drawn in the lottery, before round three snakes back in reverse order. 

For example, in the BBL draft the Heat will pick first in the first and second rounds of the draft, but last in the third round and first again in the fourth round. 

Any trades?

Clubs are free to trade draft picks with other clubs as part or independently of player trades. The Big Bash draft rules have been tweaked this year to allow clubs to trade for multiple picks in the same round.

However, each club must still have four picks in the draft (regardless of whether they pass) and meet the minimum pick threshold of selecting two players in the draft, plus allocating their overseas direct player signing. 

Trading picks is becoming increasingly popular since being introduced in the second year of the draft.

This year, the Thunder have traded picks 16 and 17 to the Perth Scorchers in exchange for pick 12 and 21 in the BBL|15 draft.

Can teams keep players from last year?

Yes, this is called a Retention pick, and each club has one to use per draft. Pre-signed overseas players don't affect retention picks either, with each club still eligible to retain one player in the BBL|15 and WBBL|11 drafts.

There are some rules: A Retention pick must be used by a club in the same round that a rival club selects their desired player, and can only be used by a club that hasn't already picked a player in that round. And a club has a 45-second time limit to activate their retention pick.

The Heat, for example, hold WBBL retention rights for India stars Jemimah Rodrigues and Shikha Pandey but would only be able to retain one if both are picked in the same round of the draft.

How are Retention rights determined?

Players are eligible for retention if they fit any of the following criteria:

• Was drafted by a Big Bash team in the previous contract year
• Have been in a Big Bash team squad for a minimum of two years (at least one of which was in the past three seasons) and hasn't been contracted to another team since
• Was in a Big Bash team's squad of 13 for a game in the previous season
• Is otherwise approved by the Big Bash Technical Committee due to exceptional circumstances

Players eligible for retention have been colour-coded in the handy interactive list of every nominated player, which is available on the Big Bash app.

Wait, some overseas players have already signed?

Another new feature this year has been the introduction of a multi-year contract option that allows clubs to pre-sign one men's and women's overseas player for up to a maximum of three years ahead of the drafts.

The contracting mechanism has been introduced to help retain and attract new international players amid an increasingly competitive global T20 landscape.

From WBBL|11 and BBL|15 onwards, these players are required to be available for the entire season including finals.

Who are the pre-signed players?

What is player availability like?

Availability has been a massive factor in the first three BBL drafts with a glut of international cricket and rival domestic T20 leagues, primarily in South Africa and the UAE, eating into the men's Big Bash window.

With that in mind, the Big Bash drafts have been brought forward to June – two-and-a-half months earlier than the previous three BBL drafts held in September – to help the BBL get ahead of rival tournaments and have first crack at securing overseas players for next season.

Pre-signed players are required to be available for the entire season including finals. For the rest of the nominees, it's a mixed bag with players falling between full availability including finals, full regular season availability, 6-9 games and 4-6 games.

With that in mind, don't be surprised if clubs again shun some of the biggest names because of their limited availability in favour of lesser-known picks that could play more games.

The WBBL has fewer problems with availability due to carving out its own slice of the calendar for women's cricket, however a busy international calendar will still create a squeeze. 

The ICC Women's World Cup in India will end on November 2, with the WBBL to begin within a week of the tournament decider in Bengaluru. That means the WBBL|11 window will be slightly later this year, after it began on October 27 in 2024. There's no clash for Australian players, whose next international series is not until February 2026. 

South Africa and Ireland are schedule to begin a white-ball tour in early December - although pre-signed Proteas Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp have already indicated they will be available for the entirety of WBBL|11. India are set to host Bangladesh from mid-December, potentially impacting the availability of their players at the backend of the season.

You can check out the availability of every nominated player on the Big Bash app.