Big Bash Draft Recap: Who did your side pick-up?

Nicholas Quinlan • June 20th, 2025 3:39 pm

There will be a distinct Pakistan flavour in this year’s edition of the BBL following the BBL|15 draft on Thursday afternoon.

With the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Mohammed Rizwan and Babar Azam announcing their availability for the entire tournament, including finals, this saw clubs increase their interest in selecting them.

As a result of this availability, seven Pakistani players were drafted to six BBL clubs.

The Brisbane Heat would get the first pick of the draft through the lottery after finishing 7th in BBL|14. With their selection, they would pick Afridi.

The left-arm fast bowler has been one of the best T20 bowlers in the world. He has just finished a dominant PSL where he was the leading wicket-taker within the competition.

Following that pick the Strikers would try and select Pakistan’s Haris Rauf. However, the Melbourne Stars would use a retention pick to see the left-arm pace bowler feature in dark green again. The Strikers would then pick Englishman Luke Wood who is also a left-handed bowler.

The Pakistan influx would continue in the first round with wicketkeeper Mohammed Rizwan heading to the Melbourne Renegades.

The other Pakistan players drafted would include Shadab Khan (Thunder), Hasan Ali (Strikers), Babar Azam (pre-selected to Sydney Sixers) and Hassan Khan (Renegades).

Similar to last year, the majority of those picked in the draft would be English. While stars like Ollie Pope and Jacob Bethell were not picked due to their likely unavailability due to the Ashes, 12 of the 24 players selected in the draft were English.

Those selected include the likes of Sam Billings, Jamie Overton, Chris Jordan and Tom & Sam Curran.

Some of the more notable names that were not selected include Jofra Archer, Liam Livingstone and Kane Williamson who only had availability ranging between three to six games.

Jimmy Anderson was also nominated for the draft but was not selected.

The WBBL draft would follow after the men’s.

Of the 23 players selected in the draft, 12 of these were English players.

Sophia Dunkley would be taken by the Sydney Sixers with the first pick of the draft.

This would open up the opportunity for the Adelaide Strikers to pick Sophie Ecclestone who had played the last two seasons at the Sixers.

Ecclestone currently sits within the top five of the ICC T20 bowling rankings and will prove a handy spin addition alongside Australia’s Amanda-Jade Wellington.

Outside of the Stars picking Amy Jones at No. 5, picks from No. 3 to No.11 would all either be retention picks or pre-signed players being selected.

This meant the likes of Sophie Devine, Laura Wolvaardt, Deandra Dottin and Heather Knight would all return to their clubs from last season.

SEE THE FULL LIST BELOW:

BBL|15 International Signings:

Adelaide Strikers:
Luke Wood (England), Jamie Overton (England – Pre-Signing) and Hasan Ali (Pakistan)

Brisbane Heat:
Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pakistan), Colin Munro (New Zealand – Pre-Signing) and Tom Alsop (England)

Hobart Hurricanes:
Chris Jordan (England – Pre-Signing), Rishad Hossain (Bangladesh) and Rehan Ahmed (England)

Melbourne Renegades:
Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan), Hassan Khan (Pakistan) and Tim Seifert (New Zealand – Pre-Signing)

Melbourne Stars:
Haris Rauf (Pakistan – Retention), Tom Curran (England – Pre-Signing) and Joe Clarke (England)

Perth Scorchers:
Finn Allen (New Zealand – Pre-Signing), Laurie Evans (England), David Payne (England)

Sydney Sixers:
Sam Curran (England), Babar Azam (Pakistan – Pre-Signing) and Jafer Chohan (England)

Sydney Thunder:
Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand), Shadab Khan (Pakistan) and Sam Billings (England – Pre-Signing)

WBBL|11 International Signings:

Adelaide Strikers:
Sophie Ecclestone (England), Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa, Pre-Signing) and Tammy Beaumont (England)

Brisbane Heat:
Jemimah Rodrigues (India - Retention), Chinelle Henry (West Indies), Nadine de Klerk (South Africa, Pre-Signing)

Hobart Hurricanes:
Danni Wyatt-Hodge (England - Retention), Natalie Sciver-Brunt (England, Pre-Signing) and Linsey Smith (England)

Melbourne Renegades:
Deandra Dottin (West Indies - Retention), Alice Capsey (England)

Melbourne Stars:
Amy Jones (England), Marizanne Kapp (South Africa, Pre-Signing) and Dani Gibson (England)

Perth Scorchers:
Sophie Devine (New Zealand, Pre-Signing), Paige Scholfield (England), Chloe Tryon (South Africa)

Sydney Sixers:
Sophia Dunkley (England), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand, Pre-Signing) and Mady Villiers (England)

Sydney Thunder:
Heather Knight (England - Retention) Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka, Pre-Signing) and Shabnim Ismail (South Africa)

While the fixture is yet to be announced, SEN will have live coverage of the BBL across its radio network and the SEN app.

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Big Bash Draft Recap: Who did your side pick-up?

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