The Brisbane Heat have snapped up Shaheen Shah Afridi as the No. 1 pick in the Big Bash League overseas player draft, with six compatriots joining the Pakistan superstar in the 15th edition of the T20 tournament.
The left-armed quick will wear teal this summer, and in a massive boost for the Queensland-based club, he will be available for the entire tournament, including finals. He will form an intimidating pace attack alongside Heat regulars Spencer Johnson, Michael Neser and Xavier Bartlett.
The Adelaide Strikers attempted to poach fellow Pakistan speedster Haris Rauf later in the first round, but the Melbourne Stars swooped in with their retention pick.
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Elsewhere in the first round, the Adelaide Strikers signed England seamer Luke Wood while the Sydney Sixers secured the services of all-rounder Sam Curran, whose older brother Tom joined the Stars as a pre-draft signing.
The Melbourne Renegades picked up Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, who will join the likes of Josh Brown and Jake Fraser-McGurk in an explosive top order.
England fast bowler Jofra Archer, West Indies hero Shamar Joseph and all-rounder Liam Livingstone are among the high-profile names that were ignored by all eight clubs.
Later in the WBBL Draft, the Sydney Sixers snapped up England’s Sophia Dunkley with the No. 1 pick, opening the door for the Adelaide Strikers to swoop in and steal spinner Sophie Ecclestone.
Earlier on Thursday, the Melbourne Renegades confirmed that West Indies captain Hayley Matthews had been ruled out of the WBBL due to injury, meaning the reigning champions had an additional live pick at their disposal.
Meanwhile, the Hobart Hurricanes announced they had secured England all-rounder Nat Sciver Brunt as a pre-draft signing.
BBL DRAFT PICKS
1. Shaheen Shah Afridi (Brisbane Heat, Platinum)
2. Haris Rauf (Melbourne Stars, Platinum, Retention)
3. Luke Wood (Adelaide Strikers, Platinum)
4. Mohammad Rizwan (Melbourne Renegades, Platinum)
5. Finn Allen (Perth Scorchers, Platinum, Pre-Signed Player)
6. Chris Jordan (Hobart Hurricanes, Platinum, Pre-Signed Player)
7. Sam Curran (Sydney Sixers, Platinum)
8. Lockie Ferguson (Sydney Thunder, Platinum)
9. Colin Munro (Brisbane Heat, Platinum, Pre-Signed Player)
10. Jamie Overton (Adelaide Strikers, Platinum, Pre-Signed Player)
11. Hassan Khan (Melbourne Renegades, Gold)
12. Shadab Khan (Sydney Thunder, Gold)
13. Rishad Hossain (Hobart Hurricanes, Gold)
14. Babar Azam (Sydney Sixers, Platinum, Pre-Signed Player)
15. Tom Curran (Melbourne Stars, Platinum, Pre-Signed Player)
16. Passed (Perth Scorchers)
17. Laurie Evans (Perth Scorchers, Silver)
18. Joe Clarke (Melbourne Stars, Silver)
19. Passed (Sydney Sixers)
20. Passed (Hobart Hurricanes)
21. Sam Billings (Sydney Thunder, Gold, Pre-Signed Player)
22. Tim Seifert (Melbourne Renegades, Gold, Pre-Signed Player)
23. Hassan Ali (Adelaide Strikers, Gold)
24. Passed (Brisbane Heat)
25. Tom Alsop (Brisbane Heat, Bronze)
26. Passed (Adelaide Strikers)
27. Passed (Melbourne Renegades)
28. David Payne (Perth Scorchers, Bronze)
29. Rehan Ahmed (Hobart Hurricanes, Bronze)
30. Jafer Chohan (Sydney Sixers, Bronze)
31. Passed (Melbourne Stars)
32. Passed (Sydney Thunder)
The draft order was determined by April’s weighted lottery, which was based on last season’s finishing positions.
The first two rounds of the draft flow in the order clubs were drawn in the lottery, before round three snakes back in reverse order.
In the men’s competition, the Heat received the coveted No. 1 Draft pick — the Brisbane-based club had a 30 per cent chance of being drawn first in the weighted lottery since they finished seventh on the BBL standings last summer.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Thunder traded picks 16 and 17 in the BBL Draft to the Perth Scorchers in exchange for picks 12 and 21.
WBBL DRAFT PICKS
1. Sophia Dunkley (Sydney Sixers, Platinum)
2. Sophie Ecclestone (Adelaide Strikers, Platinum)
3. Jemimah Rodrigues (Brisbane Heat, Platinum, Retention)
4. Danni Wyatt-Hodge (Hobart Hurricanes, Platinum, Retention)
5. Amy Jones (Melbourne Stars, Platinum)
6. Heather Knight (Sydney Thunder, Platinum, Retention)
7. Deandra Dottin (Melbourne Renegades, Platinum, Retention)
8. Sophie Devine (Perth Scorchers, Platinum, Pre-Signing)
9. Amelia Kerr (Sydney Sixers, Platinum, Pre-Signing)
10. Laura Wolvaardt (Adelaide Strikers, Gold, Pre-Signing)
11. Marizanne Kapp (Melbourne Stars, Platinum, Pre-Signing)
12. Paige Schofield (Perth Scorchers, Gold)
13. Nat Sciver-Brunt (Hobart Hurricanes, Platinum, Pre-Signing)
14. Chamari Athapaththu (Sydney Thunder, Platinum, Pre-Signing)
15. Alice Capsey (Melbourne Renegades, Gold)
16. Passed (Brisbane Heat)
17. Chinelle Henry (Brisbane Heat, Silver)
18. Passed (Melbourne Renegades)
19. Shabnim Ismail (Sydney Thunder, Gold)
20. Linsey Smith (Hobart Hurricanes, Silver)
21. Chloe Tryon (Perth Scorchers, Silver)
22. Dani Gibson (Melbourne Stars, Gold)
23. Passed (Adelaide Strikers)
24. Passed (Sydney Sixers)
25. Mady Villiers (Sydney Sixers, Bronze)
26. Tammy Beaumont (Adelaide Strikers, Bronze)
27. Passed (Melbourne Stars)
28. Passed (Perth Scorchers)
29. Passed (Hobart Hurricanes)
30. Passed (Sydney Thunder)
31. Passed (Melbourne Renegades)
32. Nadine de Klerk (Brisbane Heat, Bronze)
