WBBL Draft FAQ: Your questions answered

What is the Overseas Player Draft?

As seen in the KFC BBL last season, the Overseas Player Draft will see the WBBL clubs take turns to pick from a pool of available international players to play for the club in WBBL|09.

In the previous eight seasons of the Weber WBBL, clubs would negotiate directly with the international players and their agents themselves.

Now, all overseas players who want to feature in the tournament will nominate for the draft and be allocated into certain salary bands (more on that below). Clubs will then take turns to pick which overseas players they want in their squad for next season.

When is the draft?

A date for the draft will be announced in due course. Broadcast details are also yet to be confirmed but cricket.com.au will have you covered with all the latest news and updates ahead of the event.

Why is it happening?

Speaking to media on Wednesday, Big Bash Leagues general manager Alistair Dobson said the time was right for the introduction of a WBBL draft as the women's game continued to change worldwide.

"Certainly the landscape has changed with the introduction of the Women's Premier League and the ongoing growth and evolution of The Hundred and other competitions around the world for the world's best female players," Dobson said.

"As we looked at those examples and assessed it against what we thought a draft could deliver in the WBBL, we quickly came to the conclusion that it was the right thing to do.

"(We looked at) the impact that the draft had in the BBL – not just from a player perspective, but also the opportunity to bring interest and profile to the players in the competition.

"That was certainly something we saw value in for the WBBL."

So how does the draft work?

Details around how the draft will work will be confirmed in due course, but it is expected to be similar to the system employed for last year's inaugural BBL draft. What we do know is that each club will need to draft a minimum of two and a maximum of three overseas players.

Who has the No.1 pick?

This has yet to be confirmed, but stay tuned for news on who will get the coveted first pick! In last year's BBL draft, the teams that missed out on finals went into a weighted lottery to determine which club would get the No.1 pick, and remainder of the draft order.

Explain the different player bands?

There are three tiers which overseas players can nominate themselves for – gold, silver and bronze. WBBL officials will then elevate a certain number of players, who they determine are the most lucrative draft prospects, to platinum status.

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How much will overseas players be paid?

Platinum players will earn $110,000, Gold players will earn $90,000, Silver players will earn $65,000 and Bronze players will earn $40,000.

Can clubs retain players from last season?

This is yet to be confirmed, but it is likely. In last year's BBL draft, each club was entitled to one retention pick from the overseas players who had been named in the XI for at least one game the previous season.

What if overseas players are on multi-year deals?

No overseas players from WBBL|08 were on multi-year contracts, leaving clubs and the league with a clean slate for the inaugural draft.

So have the marquee player quotas changed?

Yes. Basically, forget everything you knew about the old quota system! For the past eight seasons, each club could sign a maximum of five 'marquee' players, who were either CA-contracted Australians, or overseas players, with a maximum of three from either category. That has meant some clubs, who had three CA-contracted players on their list, were only permitted to sign two overseas players – like the Sixers and Strikers in WBBL|08.

Now, the definition of 'marquee' player has changed, and is any player on a contract worth $50,000 or more, regardless of whether they are locals or from overseas. Each club will be required to sign at least five players – including both local and overseas players – above that $50k salary threshold.

This means there is no longer a limit on how many CA-contracted players can be at the one club (although the salary cap and market forces will still ensure a spread of talent across the league).

The most important change here is every club can now sign three overseas players (not including replacement players), and these internationals will not automatically count as marquees, as some will fall into the bronze salary band earning $40,000.

Can Australian players enter the draft? Will there be a draft for local players?

No, existing contracting rules still apply for domestic players. Many players have also previously signed multi-year deals, which would make it extremely difficult to hold a draft for local players.

When do player nominations open?

Soon! Details will be confirmed in the coming weeks. The League will then release a public list of the overseas players who have nominated for the draft and what salary band they have nominated for.