Melbourne Renegades immediately selected Devine with pick two but Scorchers swiftly used their retention pick to ensure their captain remained in Perth with her leadership a major reason as to why she was retained over Kapp.
Scorchers coach Bec Grundy said the decision came down to Devine’s leadership quality.
“It was incredibly difficult,” Grundy said. “To be honest, we’ve flipped from one to the other for a period of time. Two world-class players, two players who helped us win our first championship. But ultimately it came down to leadership and the captaincy. It’s such a pivotal role in T20 cricket in particular. That’s ultimately what split the two. We’re actually really sad to lose Marizanne.”
The flow on effects were interesting thereafter through the first two rounds but the draft ultimately fell flat in rounds three and four with seven of the eight clubs passing twice each, and only Thunder taking the full quota of three players. Six of the clubs that passed twice and only took two players are set to sign another overseas via the unique direct nomination route in the next 24 hours but the players can only sign at 95% of the amount of silver category player – which equates to AU$61,750.
Renegades kept their retention pick but didn’t need it in the end as they still took Harmanpreet with pick 10 in the second round as a platinum player after the six clubs looked elsewhere. Kaur was the only India player selected in the draft out of 18 that nominated with the likes of Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar all left on the table.
Renegades coach Simon Helmot told ESPNcricinfo that it was a really difficult decision to pass on Ismail.
“That was really tough,” Helmot said. “I said this to Shabs straight after the last season. We have to improve our batting. We need runs. Batting depth is what we’re looking to develop.”
Renegades only took two players but look set to add another batter via a direct nomination on Monday.
“We were always keen to retain Laura,” Strikers coach Luke Williams told ESPNcricinfo. “She’s been a fantastic asset to us over the last three years and in the end, it was platinum that was needed to retain Laura.”
“We loved having Deandra,” Williams said. “Obviously it just got down to whether we were able to fit her within the salary cap and obviously Deandra nominated at platinum and gold level and we ended up with a platinum and silver picks tonight.
“[Gibson]’s a really exciting player that looks to be improving all the time. She offers great flexibility in terms of being able to bat in the powerplay and through the middle and the same with her bowling.”
Thunder were the only club to pick three players in the draft and arguably left with the best haul taking Kapp, England captain Heather Knight and swing bowler Lauren Bell after they did a pick swap with Sydney Sixers.
How the draft played out
Sydney Thunder: Marizanne Kapp, Heather Knight, Lauren Bell
Perth Scorchers: Sophie Devine (retained), Danni Wyatt
Melbourne Renegades: Hayley Matthews, Harmanpreet Kaur
Melbourne Stars: Alice Capsey, Maia Bouchier
Hobart Hurricanes: Shabnim Ismail, Bryony Smith
Brisbane Heat: Amelia Kerr, Bess Heath
Sydney Sixers: Chloe Tryon, Jess Kerr
Adelaide Strikers: Laura Wolvaardt, Danielle Gibson
Alex Malcolm is an Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo
