Inside BBL Draft night: How Andre Russell and Faf du Plessis were snubbed and Sam Billings was overlooked

Andre Russell was on the verge of being pencilled in, before a brutal call was made on one area of his game. Ben Horne takes you inside a BBL club’s draft night.

Sam Billings was passed on by the Sydney Thunder. Picture: Alex Davidson/Getty Images

The astonishing snub of Andre Russell was sealed just hours before the Big Bash broadcast went to air, when Sydney Thunder officials made a final call to scratch him.

Word had filtered down that Russell – one of T20 cricket’s greatest ever matchwinners and biggest drawcards – was likely to slip through.

The news shocked the Thunder brains’ trust who had been resigned to Russell being snapped up well before their first round pick arrived at No.7.

But now he was set to be available, it was time to seriously consider changing plans for a rare kind of superstar, who usually wouldn’t just fall gift wrapped off the back of a truck.

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Sam Billings and Andre Russell — who the Thunder both passed on at the draft — during last season’s BBL. Picture: Getty Images

Russell’s availability for just nine games wasn’t ideal, but the reality was the West Indian international was coming cheaper at $160,000 (the other $180,000 paid for by Cricket Australia) than he did last summer when he played for the Melbourne Stars.

Thunder list manager Tim Cruickshank, general manager Andrew Gilchrist, coach Trevor Bayliss and his assistant Shawn Bradstreet and head of cricket at Cricket NSW Michael Klinger essentially pitted Russell against their preferred man, English all-rounder David Willey, and worked through the pros and cons.

“It was probably weighing up someone who could potentially win you more games off his own bat on a given night (Russell), versus someone who could play the whole tournament and finals and help you win a grand final (Willey),” Klinger told News Corp.

“The Thunder thought Willey could do both.

“Probably not as dynamic with the bat, but could give you more with the ball and you can guarantee four overs out of him all the time rather than Dre Russ being more of a No.4 or 5 batter who could only give you a couple of overs.”

Willey admits Bayliss didn’t know who he was when he first took over the England job years’ ago and he found himself introducing himself to his new coach as, “David Willey, opening bowler.”

Therefore it’s fitting that it was Willey’s bowling ability even more than his availability for the entire tournament which won the Thunder’s vote and is why when the ‘On Air’ lights went on at Fox Sports studios in Melbourne on Sunday night, Russell was never going to get picked up.

FAF DU PLESSIS

Just sixty minutes before show time at Fox Sports studios, the cat was set amongst the pigeons for the Thunder when producers informed them that no one on their drafting table would be permitted to wear an ear piece connecting coach Bayliss, who was over in the UK.

As Thunder star Jason Sangha puts it, Bayliss is “old school” and modern technology is not his strong point. Just ask Willey, who reckons the congratulatory message he got from his long-term mentor Bayliss on Sunday night was the first text he’s ever got from him.

So teaching him the intricacies of sending messages on Microsoft Teams was going to be an impossibility at such short notice, and an 11th hour decision was made to instead hook Bayliss up on a call with Klinger – who was not part of the on-screen team – with Klinger to then communicate direct messages to the drafting table on Bayliss’ behalf.

This wisdom paid dividends at a critical moment in the draft when pick No.15 arrived for the Thunder and South African superstar Faf du Plessis was still on the table.

Faf du Plessis was another option for the Thunder. Picture: Harry Trump/Getty Images

Again the Thunder expected du Plessis to have been already snapped up by this point and a serious chat took place about whether to take the former Proteas skipper at gold level in round two and take the risk that the Hobart Hurricanes wouldn’t take Alex Hales at pick No.16.

As long as the Hurricanes passed on Hales with that pick, the Thunder could then snap the Englishman up at Silver in round three.

However, in the end, the Thunder decided that risk was too great, as Hales was their No.1 retention priority for the draft and a fan favourite.

“Basically we saw Hales and David Warner as one player. It works out perfectly that Hales leaves and Warner comes in, so we have one opening batter right through now,” said Klinger.

SAM BILLINGS

There was surprise in the room when the Brisbane Heat stole England international star Sam Billings at pick No.4 and the Thunder decided not to activate their retention pick, despite the keeper-batsman being such a hit in western Sydney last summer.

This is when it’s handy to have the former England World-Cup winning coach doing the scouting report on the British stars.

“He was probably in Trevor Bayliss’ mind a month or so ago. But no doubt there was a slight concern that he could get picked as a second keeper for England’s Test series against Pakistan in December,” said Klinger.

“That would mean he’d only be available for after the 21st of December, and given he was already only playing until the 9th of January, he would have only been available for a maximum of five matches.

Sam Billings was overlooked by the Thunder due to his packed schedule. Picture: Julian Finney/Getty Images

“Of course he might not get selected, but a lot of thought went into it.

“We were thinking with Jonny Bairstow killing it with the bat for England and Brendan McCullum as his coach, who had his best batting days when he stopped keeping – that as a coach he’s probably going to be saying that to Bairstow (concentrate on batting).

“Ollie Pope the other spare keeper is a No.3 batter so we didn’t think they’d be giving the gloves to him.

“And Sam Billings in the subcontinent is a very good gloveman and player of spin. He’s the obvious choice.

“Also there was another concern that if you were to use your retaining card on Sam, that Alex Hales would have got picked up before the 7th pick in round two.

“Certainly there was a feeling we could get the best of both worlds by signing South African Rilee Rossouw, who is a No.4 batter.”

David Willey in action for the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred. Picture: George Wood/Getty Images

DAVID WILLEY

As the only platinum level player who nominated for the entire Big Bash tournament, Cricket Australia is hoping Willey will become an inspiration for other internationals in the future.

Willey had a big money deal in front of him from the new South African T20 league which he could have gone for, but told BBL clubs that provided he was picked at platinum and not gold, he would stay in Australia for the entire competition.

The 32-year-old has a young son, and Cricket Australia and the Thunder will work with Willey to find him school tutoring while the family is in Sydney – and hope the family friendly lifestyle benefits will convince other superstars that decisions over T20 leagues should be about more than just money.

“This last calendar year, I think I spent 16 out of 18 weeks away at the start of the year with the Pakistan Super League and the Big Bash and I’ve got two young children,” Willey said.

“Although I could have potentially made myself partially available and then gone and played in the South Africa league, I think for me personally and my circumstances from a family point of view, it was important we were together for an extended period and doing that in one country I think certainly helps that.”