Tim David and Mitchell Marsh are anticipated to re-sign with the Hobart Hurricanes and Perth Scorchers, respectively, following the lifting of the WBBL and BBL contracting embargo period on Monday.
Following the conclusion of the new player transfer window in early February, when seven players found new clubs, two of the most prominent uncontracted BBL players were Marsh, Australia’s T20I captain, and David, one of the team’s main death hitters.
Prior to that window opening, Marsh and David had both left respective BBL clubs after long-term contracts ended, so they were not included in the maximum of 10 players that clubs may keep.
Both players have made offers to move elsewhere, but it looks like they will both re-sign. David will be looking for more success with the Hurricanes after helping them win their first title last season, while Marsh will have much more availability to play for the Scorchers in the upcoming years after losing his Test spot.
After his contract expires, Matt Renshaw is also probably going to stay with the Brisbane Heat. After the embargo period is over, any club may sign uncontracted players in the BBL and WBBL.
If a club does not already have an overseas player, they are free to sign one, but the player must be available for the entire season, including the championship game.
The WBBL defending champions Melbourne Renegades and Strikers do not currently have an overseas player contracted, and neither do the Sydney Sixers and Adelaide Strikers.
During the trade window, seven players signed with new BBL teams: Mitchell Swepson and Liam Hatcher joined the Melbourne Stars, Beau Webster and Joel Paris rejoined the Hurricanes and Scorchers, respectively, while Jason Behrendorff, Brendan Doggett, and Caleb Jewell joined the Renegades.
The Renegades title-winning captain Sophie Molineux, top legspinner Georgia Wareham, Heat captain Jess Jonassen, and Stars and Australia seam bowler Kim Garth are all presently uncontracted in the WBBL, and the Sixers have yet to sign Ellyse Perry.
A new rule for the WBBL has also been adopted, requiring clubs to reserve one slot on their roster for an Australian local player who competes in the domestic T20 Spring Challenge.
Big Bash Leagues general manager Alistair Dobson stated, “The new rule ensuring WBBL clubs will draft a player from the Spring Challenge is also exciting with some great emerging talent to be rewarded with a chance to win in the world’s strongest women’s T20 league.”
Five BBL academy teams from the Stars, Renegades, Sixers, Strikers, and Sydney Thunder will compete in the inaugural Melbourne T10 Invitational competition, which Cricket Victoria (CV) has confirmed will be held at the Junction Oval next week.
In addition to being the only Australian state to send a team to the Global Super League in the Caribbean last year, CV has been involved in the management of the San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket. In the MLC, Washington Freedom has been managed by Cricket New South Wales.
The purpose of the T10 tournament is to provide young Australian players opportunity to compete outside of the domestic season, which concluded last weekend. It will be live broadcast in Australia and India and take place at Junction Oval from April 7 to April 17, when contractual Australian international and domestic players who are not playing abroad are required to take a leave of absence.
Present-day BBL teams
Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Thomas Kelly, Harry Nielsen, Lloyd Pope, Alex Ross, Matt Short, Henry Thorton, and Cameron Boyce are the Adelaide Strikers.
Max Bryant, Spencer Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Nathan McSweeney, Colin Munro (NZ), Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Callum Vidler, and Xavier Bartlett are the members of the Brisbane Heat.
Chris Jordan (ENG), Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Matthew Wade, Beau Webster, Mac Wright, Iain Carlisle, Nikhil Chaudhary, and Nathan Ellis are the Hobart Hurricanes.
Melbourne Renegades: Fergus O’Neill, Tom Rogers, Tim Seifert (NZ), Jason Behrendorff, Josh Brown, Harry Dixon, Brendan Doggett, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Caleb Jewell, Nathan Lyon, Will Sutherland, and Adam Zampa
Scott Boland, Hilton Cartwright, Liam Hatcher, Glenn Maxwell, Hamish McKenzie, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, and Tom Curran (ENG) are the Melbourne Stars.
Finn Allen (NZ), Ashton Agar, Cooper Connolly, Mahli Beardman, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Lance Morris, Joel Paris, Jhye Richardson, and Ashton Turner are the Perth Scorchers.
Sydney Sixers: Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, Steve Smith, Todd Murphy, Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques, and Mitch Perry
Sydney Thunder: Nathan McAndrew, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner, Ollie Davies, Chris Green, Sam Konstas, Wes Agar, Cameron Bancroft, and Sam Billings (ENG)
Present-day WBBL teams
Darcie Brown, Tahlia McGrath, Anesu Mushangwe, Maddie Penna, Megan Schutt, and Amanda-Jade Wellington are the Adelaide Strikers.
Grace Harris, Charli Knott, Grace Parsons, Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock, Nadine de Klerk (SA), Sianna Ginger, and Georgia Redmayne for the Brisbane Heat
Heather Graham, Ruth Johnston, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Lauren Smith, Molly Strano, Lizelle Lee (SA), and Elyse Villani are the Hobart Hurricanes.
Emma de Broughe, Milly Illingworth, Tess Flintoff, Ella Hayward, Georgia Prestwidge, and Naomi Stalenberg are the Melbourne Renegades.
Melbourne’s top players include Sophie Day, Annabel Sutherland, Rhys McKenna, Ines McKeon, Meg Lanning, Marizanne Kapp (SA), and Sophie Reid.
Perth Scorchers: Amy Edgar, Mikayla Hinkley, Alana King, Beth Mooney, Sophie Devine (NZ), and Chloe Ainsworth
Sydney Sixers: Amelia Kerr (NZ), Courtney Sippel, Alyssa Healy, Ashleigh Gardner, Maitlan Brown, Caoimhe Bray, and Lauren Cheatle
Sam Bates, Hannah Darlington, Hasrat Gill, Laura Harris, Anika Learoyd, Phoebe Litchfield, Taneale Peachel, Georgia Voll, and Tahlia Wilson are the Sydney Thunder’s Chamari Athapaththu (SL).
India
