Melbourne, Aug 22 (IANS): New Zealand pace bowler Trent Boult and West Indies big-hitting all-rounder Andre Russell are among the 12 stars who headline the 'platinum category' of players in the first round of the inaugural Big Bash League (BBL) Draft.
The 34-year-old Russell will be eligible for retention by the Melbourne Stars -- who have the second pick in August 28's BBL-12 Draft -- as the West Indian had played five matches for the club last season.
Russell, who was recently quoted as saying he wanted to represent his country in the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia later this year, is the all-time third-highest six hitter in T20 cricket (564), and is only behind 'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle and fellow platinum nominee Kieron Pollard.
The other platinum nominees in the BBL-12 Draft are, South Africa's Faf du Plessis, England's Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Sam Billings, Chris Jordan and David Willey, West Indies' Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, Pakistan's Shadab Khan, and Afghanistan's Rashid Khan.
"Under the BBL Draft rules, only the 12 platinum players are eligible to be picked in the first round, while platinum or gold level players can be taken in the second round," said a report in cricket.com.au. A total of 279 players have put their names forward in the draft.
Boult was recently released from his central contract by New Zealand Cricket (NZC), and while he will still be available to play for national side, he had cited a desire to play in T20 leagues around the world as the reason for opting out of the NZC contract.
Boult, 33, who is the world's top-ranked ODI bowler, has never played in the BBL. The left-arm pacer has only played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he has 92 scalps in eight seasons.
"But like most of the other draft nominees allocated platinum status, both Boult and Russell will only be available for the first part of BBL-12 before jetting off to other leagues in early January. Boult has been picked up by the Mumbai Indians-owned MI Emirates team in UAE's new International League T20 (ILT20) competition while Russell will play for his Kolkata Knight Riders-owned franchise Abu Dhabi Knight Riders," the report added.
"Close to 280 players from around the world have elected to venture to Australia this summer and experience the best of the BBL and summer lifestyle our country offers," said Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia's General Manager of Big Bash Leagues.