BBL launches player pool amid COVID outbreaks

The Big Bash League has launched a centralised pool of replacement players to help clubs continue to field a team as widening COVID-19 outbreaks wreak havoc across the competition.

The League confirmed the pool on Monday morning and said each player would live under the BBL hub protocols and be assigned a 'home' club for logistical purposes.

A player can then contracted by and suit up for any club as a local replacement player under the existing KFC BBL contracting rules, which requires a replacement player drafted into a team's squad to be selected in the final 13 (including two X-factor subs) for the next game.

The central pool creates an intriguing situation where a player could play against a team on one day before lining up alongside them in the next game.

It is not an unprecedented move; the Weber WBBL used a pool of both international and local replacement players last summer when all teams were based in a Sydney hub, with New Zealand fast bowler Rosemary Mair playing for both the Stars and the Renegades, and training with 'home' club Perth Scorchers.

Batter Justin Avendano, who hasn't been included in the initial pool of eight players, last night became the first player to represent two men's BBL clubs in the same season when he opened the batting for the Sydney Sixers after featuring in two games for the COVID-hit Melbourne Stars last week.

All clubs have now had at least one player test positive with the Adelaide Strikers today announcing Matt Renshaw had recorded a positive PCR test, while the Melbourne Stars and Brisbane Heat have had as many as 13 squad members struck down with the virus.

Stand-in Stars captain Adam Zampa on Sunday said he felt somewhat annoyed the Melbourne derby was allowed to proceed on January 3 when they had up to 10 players missing due to COVID.

"You would think that you would want two full-strength squads available for a game ... Renegades-Stars, Scorchers-Sixers and Sixers-Thunder, these competitions are built on days like that," he said.

"I think the derby day was taken the piss out of a little bit and that was because it was set in stone on January 3."

He said his side didn't deserve to sit on the bottom of the BBL|11 ladder after losing their past two games against Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Renegades when they scrambled together a team made up of club cricketers and fringe state players.

The Heat have also lost their past two games after fielding 10 new players when 12 regular squad members contracted the virus.

For the remainder of the season clubs will be unable to sign local replacement players from outside the centralised pool unless approved by the BBL Technical Committee.

The League expects additional players to be added to the pool of nine in coming days.

Local replacement players already in a club’s 18-player squad can remain with that club unless they are replaced by a returning primary player, which could see them join the centralised pool at the Technical Committee’s discretion.

Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia’s General Manager of Big Bash Leagues, said the League and clubs had been working together to address the challenges of the current season.

"The player pool provides clubs with increased options should injury, illness or other circumstances affect availability of players, while also streamlining the process of integrating LRPs into the group from a biosecurity perspective," he said.

It comes after the League confirmed all clubs would relocate to a Melbourne hub in a bid to combat the virus outbreaks that have run rampant through teams.

A revised schedule from today until January 16 will see seven of the 11 scheduled matches played in Victoria, however some key games will still be played interstate, with teams to fly in and out on charter flights.

Central LRP pool: Nicholas Bertus (Sydney Sixers), Jake Carder (Perth Scorchers), Iain Carlisle (Hobart Hurricanes), Daniel Drew (Adelaide Strikers), Jake Doran (Melbourne Stars), Lachlan Hearne (Sydney Thunder), Lachlan Pfeffer (Brisbane Heat – currently in the 18-player squad), Brayden Stepien (Melbourne Renegades)