WBBL and BBL Draft 2025-26: All you need to know

The Big Bash League (BBL) and Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) draft will take place on June 19, where the eight clubs will secure overseas players for the 2025-26 season.

Here is everything you need to know about the league’s draft.

When will the draft take place?

The draft for BBL and WBBL will happen on Thursday, June 19. The WBBL draft will begin first, starting at 4pm AEST (11:30 AM IST), followed by the BBL draft.

What order do the teams pick in the players?

The draft order for the upcoming BBL and WBBL seasons was decided by a lottery held in April, based on last season’s standings. In the WBBL, the Sydney Sixers secured the No. 1 pick, while the Brisbane Heat will select last at No. 8. Likewise, in the BBL, the Brisbane Heat landed the first pick, with the Sydney Thunder set to pick last. Both leagues will conduct a four-round draft.

Round one - Platinum players only
Round two - Platinum and Gold players
Round three - Gold and Silver players
Round four - Silver and Bronze players

The third round of each draft goes in reverse order.

Round one order of WBBL:

1.      Sydney Sixers

2.      Adelaide Strikers

3.      Melbourne Stars

4.      Perth Scorchers

5.      Hobart Hurricanes

6.      Sydney Thunder

7.      Melbourne Renegades

8.      Brisbane Heat

Round one order of BBL:

1.      Brisbane Heat

2.      Adelaide Strikers

3.      Melbourne Renegades

4.      Perth Scorchers

5.      Hobart Hurricanes

6.      Sydney Sixers

7.      Melbourne Stars

8.      Sydney Thunder

There has been one trade of picks in the BBL draft with Sydney Thunder and Perth Scorchers swapping their picks in the second and third rounds.

Each BBL and WBBL team must draft a minimum of two overseas players, in addition to any pre-signed international player. As a result, clubs are only permitted to pass in one round of the four-round draft. This structure was introduced last season and allows franchises to pre-sign one overseas player before the draft on a multi-year deal, a mechanism that has already been utilised by all teams.

During the draft, clubs must nominate the round in which their pre-signed player will be slotted, based on the value of that player’s contract. While many will be in the Platinum category (the highest pay scale), some will fall into lower tiers. For example, Melbourne Renegades revealed last year that Tim Seifert was not classified as a Platinum pick. In the WBBL, Brisbane Heat’s Nadine de Klerk also fell into a lower category.

Teams may also draft a fourth overseas player, who will be classified as a replacement option. But, only three overseas players are allowed in the playing XI. Replacement players can also be signed post-draft, but they must be selected from the list of draft nominees, unless approved by the tournament’s technical committee under special conditions.

Who all are the pre-signed players?

• Adelaide Strikers: Laura Wolvaardt, Jamie Overton
• Brisbane Heat: Nadine de Klerk, Colin Munro
• Hobart Hurricanes: TBC, Chris Jordan
• Melbourne Renegades: Hayley Matthews, Tim Seifert
• Melbourne Stars: Marizanne Kapp, Tom Curran
• Perth Scorchers: Sophie Devine, Finn Allen
• Sydney Sixers: Amelia Kerr, Babar Azam
• Sydney Thunder: Chamari Athapaththu, Sam Billings

Who are all the notable overseas players nominated for the draft?

The BBL and WBBL drafts have attracted a star-studded pool of overseas talent, with more than 600 players registering their interest, as per the statement from Cricket Australia. They moved the draft to June and gave clubs earlier insights into player availability ahead of the season.

Among the high-profile nominees for the BBL are India's Siddharth Kaul, Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Rizwan. England will be represented by names Jofra Archer, James Anderson, Zak Crawley, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Jason Roy, and Reece Topley. New Zealand has nominated Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, and Kane Williamson (only three matches). Other notable nominees include Sri Lanka duo of Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Perera, West Indies' Shamar Joseph, Bangladesh’s pacer Mustafizur Rahman and Afghanistan's Naveen-ul-Haq.

In the WBBL draft, India’s Shikha Pandey, Yastika Bhatia, and Jemimah Rodrigues part of the list, alongside West Indies’ Deandra Dottin and Pakistan’s Fatima Sana. England has submitted a roster that includes Lauren Bell, Sophie Ecclestone, Heather Knight, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley, Tammy Beaumont, Sarah Glenn, Alice Capsey, Maia Bouchier, and Bess Heath. South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon also added to the overseas talent pool.

How much are the salaries of the players?

WBBL Salaries

Platinum: $110,000 (depending on availability)
Gold: $90,000
Silver: $65,000
Bronze: up to $40,000

BBL Salaries

Platinum: $360,000-$420,000 (depending on availability)
Gold: $300,000
Silver: $200,000
Bronze: up to $100,000

Each club gets one retention pick. The player who can be retained is the one who played for the club in the previous season. On the other hand, if they were signed last year but did not play, they can be retained this year.

When a club confirms which round their pre-signed player places into, that class is their pick in that round and therefore they can not use their retention pick in that round.

When do tournaments take place?

The upcoming WBBL season is scheduled from late October to early December, directly following the Women’s ODI World Cup. It is expected to be less impacted by bilateral international fixtures compared to last year.

Meanwhile, the BBL will run from mid-December to late January while maintaining its 40-game regular season format. The BBL will face some player availability issues, as it overlaps with both international cricket and rival T20 tournaments. The ILT20 has shifted its window forward and is set to run from December 2 to January 4, while the SA20 will now be conducted from December 26 to January 26, significantly clashing with the BBL schedule. The fixture details for both leagues are expected to be released in July.

BBL chief Alistair Dobson saw a silver lining in overlapping schedules, expecting better squad strength late in the BBL. With Australia’s Test players returning post-Ashes and some ILT20 players potentially available, the league could benefit from fewer player exits and stronger teams during finals with no international duties in January.