In the first BBL Draft, which took place today, Melbourne Renegades chose Liam Livingstone with the first pick out of 332 of the finest T20 players in the globe.
Draft explanation: How clubs will sign international stars for the BBL|12
The English power batter Liam Livingstone will represent the Melbourne Renegades in BBL|12 after being selected with the first choice in the first BBL overseas player draft.
Three international players were chosen by each of the eight KFC BBL teams from a large pool of 332 players from 20 different nations.
The Stars, Thunder, and Hurricanes spent the most out of the $5.5 million that was spent on players, while the Scorchers, who mysteriously passed in the first round, spent the least. Only the 12 platinum ($340,000) players could be chosen in round one, followed by the platinum and gold ($260,000) players in round two, the gold and silver ($175,000) players in round three, and the silver and bronze ($100,000) players in round four.
Livingstone will complement Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh in the Renegades batting order because they are both among the cleanest cricket ball hitters in the world right now.
He has around 150 strikeouts in 200 career games, 152 sixes, the highest in world T20 cricket since the year 2021, and a useful combination of leg and off-spin in his bowling arsenal.
There were no surprises when Adelaide’s head coach Jason Gillespie used the Strikers retention pick instead of letting the Melbourne Stars sign the star player from Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan’s opening victory over Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, Rashid, the greatest T20 leg-spinner in the world with 472 wickets in 344 games, allowed just three runs an over. This year, he will bowl with a second leggie once more because the Strikers signed Cameron Boyce from the Renegades in the off-season.
