Adelaide pick Ecclestone in WBBL Draft as Sydney Sixers pick fellow English international Sophia Dunkley in shocking move.
Adelaide pick Ecclestone as Sixers make a shocking move by picking fellow English player Sophia Dunkley.
The Hobart Hurricanes announced they had pre-signed famous England all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt on draft day, while the Melbourne Renegades lost key pre-signing Hayley Matthews to a shoulder injury, creating a great deal of anxiety going into the WBBL draft.
The Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers tried to flush out some retention picks in the first round since many clubs were uncertain of what each would do.
With pick number three, the Stars attempted to acquire India batter Jemimah Rodrigues, but the Heat used their retention pick instead. After that, they attempted to sign Danni Wyatt-Hodge, an England batter, but the Hurricanes kept her.
Amy Jones, an in-form England wicketkeeper batswoman, was ultimately acquired by the stars. Despite having the option to keep, the Perth Scorchers chose not to. The Sydney Thunder and Renegades both used their retention picks right away when the Scorchers attempted to sign Heather Knight and Deandra Dottin.
The Scorchers then pre-signed Sophie Devine at the platinum price by using the last choice in the first round.
Pre-signed players made up the majority of the second round, but the Scorchers surprised everyone by selecting England’s fringe batter Paige Scholfield at the top price. Chloe Tryon, a South African all-rounder who has played for the Hurricanes, Sixers, and Thunder, was also signed by the Scorchers. She will play for her fourth WBBL team.
After pre-signing Chamari Athapaththu and claiming Knight as a retention, Thunder were ecstatic to get South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail in the final round, securing one of the strongest overseas trios.
After playing 27 games for Strikers from 2016 to 2018, England batter Tammy Beaumont will make his first appearance back with the team in seven years. Since then, she has performed for Thunder and Renegades.
The only team not to select three players in the draft was Renegades. They can only sign a player that was nominated for the draft but was not chosen, but the injury to pre-signing Matthews permits them to make another signing later.