BBL15 draft: Shaheen Shah Afridi taken at pick 1 by Brisbane Heat

Pakistan quick Shaheen Shah Afridi is heading to Brisbane after being snapped up with the first pick in this year’s BBL Draft. See every pick as it happened here.

Big Bash League clubs are banking on Pakistani talent for next summer with superstar Babar Azam to be joined by six compatriots also picked up in Thursday’s draft.

However England pace ace Jofra Archer and West Indian destroyer Shamar Joseph were both snubbed as a host of favourites returned to their respective teams.

As expected, left-arm speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi was taken with the first overall pick by the Brisbane Heat.

He was one of three Pakistanis taken inside the first four selections, with the Melbourne Stars opting to retain paceman Haris Rauf, matching a bid from the Adelaide Strikers at pick two.

The Strikers, who had been eyeing Afridi only for the Heat to pounce, plucked another left-arm seamer in England’s Luke Wood.

The Melbourne Renegades joined the Pakistan party by plucking the nation’s white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan, a dynamic wicketkeeper-batter, with the fourth selection.

Brisbane Heat’s brains trust Joe Dawes, Johan Botha, Sunny Kaliyar and Nathan McSweeney.

The Renegades also picked Hassan Khan in the second round, while leg-spinner Shadab Khan joined his fourth BBL club after being taken by the Sydney Thunder at pick 12.

Adelaide’s choice of quick Hasan Ali in the third round made it a magnificent seven of Pakistanis, a boon for their players who have long been barred from playing in the Indian Premier League.

Poached last season by the Renegades, English batter Laurie Evans returned to the Perth Scorchers, who had traded to the top of the third round in a deal with the Thunder.

“It’s always nice to bring guys back who have been successful for your club,” said Scorchers coach Adam Voges.

“And Laurie’s performances for us over a period of time were excellent. We we were sad to see him leave last year, but yeah, we’re really excited to welcome him back. He’s one of the overseas players who has performed really strongly at Optus Stadium, in our home conditions, which can be tricky at times.”

Shaheen Shah Afridi was taken with pick 1. Picture: Michael Klein

The Sydney Sixers took England all-rounder Sam Curran, brother of their long-time mainstay Tom Curran, at pick No. 7. Tom was taken the following round by the Stars as a pre-signing.

Though his club didn’t take any of the Pakistanis, Voges said availability had been the key reason for the influx.

“There’s some wonderful players that have been taken in the draft today…to be fully available, that’s obviously really attractive for all clubs, and it’ll be exciting to see them play.”

Sam Curran became a Sixer.

Heat batter Nathan McSweeney said he was not looking forward to facing Afridi in the nets.

“Obviously, keen to see Shaheen steaming with the rest of our attack at the Gabba. Thankfully, he’s on our side, not anyone else’s,” McSweeney said.

“Very excited to see that, and obviously have two guys coming back that have been here before, in Colin (Munro) and Tom (Alsop), so hopefully that familiarity helps them out and they can hit the ground running.”

Archer and Joseph were among the highest-profile players to be bypassed. Archer had success with the Hurricanes more than half a decade ago however there remain concerns over his availability given the quick is in England’s plans for the summer’s Ashes.

EVERY PICK

ROUND 1

HEAT - Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pakistan)

STRIKERS - Haris Rauf (retention) - matched by Stars

STRIKERS - Luke Wood (England)

RENEGADES - Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)

SCORCHERS - Finn Allen (New Zealand)

HURRICANES - Chris Jordan (England)

SIXERS - Sam Curran (Sixers)

THUNDER - Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand)

ROUND 2

HEAT - Colin Munro (New Zealand)

STRIKERS - Jamie Overton (Strikers)

RENEGADES - Hassan Khan (Pakistan)

THUNDER - Shadab Khan (Pakistan)

HURRICANES - Rishad Hossain (Bangladesh)

SIXERS - Babar Azam (Pakistan)

STARS - Tom Curran (England)

SCORCHERS - Passed

ROUND 3

SCORCHERS - Laurie Evans (England)

STARS - Joe Clarke (England)

SIXERS - Passed

HURRICANES - Passed

THUNDER - Sam Billings (England)

RENEGADES - Tim Seifert (New Zealand)

STRIKERS - Hassan Ali (Pakistan)

HEAT - Passed

ROUND 4

HEAT - Tom Alsop (England)

STRIKERS - Passed

RENEGADES - Passed

SCORCHERS - David Payne (England)

HURRICANES - Rehan Ahmed (England)

SIXERS - Jafer Chohan (England)

STARS - Pass

THUNDER - Pass

RENEGADES ROCKED WITH TITLE-WINNING SKIPPER OUT OF WBBL

— Daniel Cherny

An early morning phone message spelled bad news for the Melbourne Renegades who have been rocked by the loss of superstar all-rounder Hayley Matthews for the upcoming Women’s Big Bash League season.

The defending champions used only two of their three available selections at Thursday’s WBBL draft, leaving a vacancy open after West Indian captain Matthews opted to undergo shoulder surgery later this year.

English batter Sophia Dunkley was taken by the Sydney Sixers with the first pick of the draft, with her compatriot Sophie Ecclestone - formerly of the Sixers - selected at pick No. 2 by the Adelaide Strikers.

West Indian Deandra Dottin and Englishwoman Alice Capsey will return to the Renegades after being taken with their first two selections, but Matthews - player of the final in last year’s tournament — has withdrawn.

Hayley Matthews won’t feature for the Renegades this summer due to injury in a huge blow.

“I got a call, one of those ugly messages at 4:30 in the morning. ‘We need to chat.’ I didn’t see it till six, so straight away, I rang,” Renegades coach Simon Helmot said.

“She’s been nursing a really sore shoulder, and she’s had a scan and there’s a tear, and so the capsule needs to be repaired. It’s not like a reconstruction, but obviously there needs to be some repairing done. And for any athlete, you need to try and plan when and if you can do this, because there’s obviously her international commitments, there’s Hundred, there’s CPL (Caribbean Premier League), obviously they’re not in the World Cup. So that’s the time where she had a bit of time, and the only thing she’ll be missing is (WBBL).”

The Renegades will monitor the international scene in the coming months before filling their third overseas slot.

The opening round of the draft included four matched bids. There was brief drama when Brisbane Heat appeared to relinquish Jemimah Rodrigues to the Stars, only for the move to be deemed a glitch by Cricket Australia who ultimately allowed Brisbane to retain the Indian.

WBBL DRAFT

SIXERS - Sophia Dunkley (England)

STRIKERS – Sophie Ecclestone (England)

HEAT – Jemimah Rodrigues (India, matching Stars bid)

HURRICANES – Danni Wyatt-Hodge (England, matching Stars bid)

STARS – Amy Jones (England)

THUNDER – Heather Knight (England, matching Scorchers bid)

RENEGADES – Deandra Dottin (West Indies, matching Scorchers bid)

SCORCHERS – Sophie Devine (New Zealand, pre-signed)

SIXERS - Amelia Kerr (New Zealand, pre-signed)

STRIKERS - Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa, pre-signed)

STARS - Marizanne Kapp (South Africa, pre-signed)

SCORCHERS- Paige Schofield (England)

HURRICANES - Nat Sciver-Brunt (England, pre-signed)

THUNDER - Chamari Athapaththu - (Sri Lanka, pre-signed)

RENEGADES - Alice Capsey (England)

HEAT - Pass

HEAT - Chinelle Henry (West Indies)

RENEGADES - Pass

THUNDER - Shabnim Ismail (Thunder)

HURRICANES - Linsey Smith (England)

SCORCHERS - Chloe Tryon (South Africa)

STARS - Dani Gibson (England)

STRIKERS - Pass

SIXERS - Passed

SIXERS - Mady Villiers (England)

STRIKERS - Tammy Beaumont (England)

STARS - Pass

SCORCHERS - Pass

HURRICANES - Pass

THUNDER - Pass

RENEGADES - Pass

HEAT - Nadine de Klerk

Originally published as BBL15 draft: Shaheen Shah Afridi taken at pick 1 by Brisbane Heat