Superstars line up for slice of inaugural WBBL Draft

Amelia Kerr, Deepti Sharma and Deandra Dottin are among the superstars in the mix as the complete list of more than 100 nominees for Sunday's inaugural Weber WBBL player draft is confirmed.

A total of 116 players from 19 countries have thrown their hats in the ring for the WBBL|09 Draft, while the BBL|13 Draft features 376 players from 29 countries.

A further six players including New Zealand's Suzie Bates have made themselves available for WBBL|09 but have opted to use a mechanism, unique to the women's competition, which allows them to bypass the draft and to sign directly with a WBBL club afterwards.

The so-called "Direct Nominations" removes the uncertainty of a draft for the player, but it comes at a cost – a player opting for this approach can only be paid a maximum of 95 per cent of the silver tier, meaning their salary will be restricted to $61,750 for WBBL|09.

Players taken in the first round of the draft at the platinum level will pocket $110,000, while gold tier players will earn $90,000.

Alongside Bates, the other players who have opted for this approach include England trio Tammy Beaumont, Sophia Dunkley and Amy Jones, with South Africa pair Mignon du Preez and Lizelle Lee the others.

Beamont, who previously played with the Thunder, had initially signed up for the draft before opting to switch to the direct nomination mechanism.

Brisbane Heat fans will be pleased to see the inclusion of Kerr, who has been a force with ball in hand for the club since 2019 and is available for retention.

Meanwhile, star India allrounder Sharma is not eligible for retention and could be drafted to any of the eight clubs.

The introduction of the draft has opened the doors to players from around the globe to put themselves forward for consideration, with the likes of Ireland's Orla Prendergast, USA's Tara Norris and Bangladesh's Jahanara Alam keen to join the competition for the first time.

Each club is only entitled to use one retention pick.

The overseas player draft will be held on September 3 and will be televised on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports in conjunction with the second KFC BBL draft, starting from 5.30pm AEST.

Sydney Thunder secured pick No.1 in the draft via a weighted lottery system, with the Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers drawn for picks two and three respectively.

Foreign players have nominated for the draft across three tiers – gold, silver ($65,000) and bronze ($40,000).

Ahead of the draft, league officials will elevate select players who they determine are the most enticing draft prospects to a platinum tier, with that list to be revealed on Wednesday.