Faf du Plessis will enter the BBL draft again despite being overlooked last year

Two of cricket’s biggest names turned up to the first Big Bash draft and didn’t get picked, but at least one is trying again.

Once bitten does not equate to twice shy for former South African captain Faf du Plessis, who is among six of the world’s best T20 batters to nominate for the second Big Bash draft.

West Indian slugger Nicholas Pooran, who smashed a 55-ball century in the inaugural MLC final in the US before taking down India in a series win for his country this week, has also thrown his hat into the Big Bash ring.

It comes a year after du Plessis was overlooked in the inaugural draft despite being part of the telecast and being paid marketing money by Cricket Australia.

The South African great eventually found his way to the Perth Scorchers, signing a short-term deal as an overseas replacement player.

Faf du Plessis eventually signed with the Scorchers. Picture: James Worsfold/Getty Images

English T20 World Cup winner Alex Hales, who recently retired from international cricket to focus on the T20 circuit, has also nominated and could be a retention pick for the Sydney Thunder where he has played for multiple seasons.

Three batters ranked in the world’s top 20 have put their name forward for selection in the draft on September 3 – Rilee Rossouw (South Africa), who is ranked fourth in the ICC international batter rankings, Hales and Pooran.

Former New Zealand international Colin Munro and English slugger Laurie Evans round out the first six names for the draft.

Englishman Evans is eligible as a retention pick for the Perth Scorchers, having become a hero when he smashed an unbeaten 76 runs off 41 balls to secure victory in the BBL final in 2021.

While those six have committed to the draft, several big names remain absent, including West Indian star Andre Russell, who was also overlooked in last year’s draft in similar circumstances to du Plessis but played four games for the Renegades, and South African Quinton de Kock, who is now a player for hire around the world.

Andre Russell hasn’t nominated for the draft. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

World Cup winning English captain Jos Buttler is another player BBL officials had hopes of joining the competition, having fallen out of favour for Test selection.

The emergence of the T20 league in the United Arab Emirates, played in the back-end of July, remains an obstacle for the BBL to secure the services of the best players for lengthy stints.

Despite reducing the number of games for this season’s tournament, it still runs across seven weeks, starting in the second week of December and finishing in the last week of January.

Despite that, BBL boss Alistair Dobson said the early nominations were indicative of the BBL’s “international appeal”.

“The influx of these top batters is a testament to the BBL’s standing in the global cricket community and fans can look forward to another summer of big hits and high scores,” he said.

The draft will be held on September 3.