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Players-by-choice system for BPL draft

Players in the third edition of the BPL will be allocated to participating franchises through a lottery-based transfer system called "players-by-choice"

Mohammad Isam
Mohammad Isam
22-Aug-2015
Nazmul Hassan: "We have to go for players-by-choice. We want to ensure one team is not too strong and another not too weak."  •  Bangladesh Cricket Board

Nazmul Hassan: "We have to go for players-by-choice. We want to ensure one team is not too strong and another not too weak."  •  Bangladesh Cricket Board

Players in the third edition of the BPL will be allocated to participating franchises through a lottery-based transfer system called "players-by-choice". Used once for the 2012-13 Dhaka Premier League, it will replace the players' auction of the BPL's first two editions.
The system was formulated first in 2013 after many of the Dhaka clubs demanded a level-playing field, faced with exorbitant salary demands from players. It is styled after the draft in American sports, except for a few details. In the following season, the BCB reverted to the traditional open players' transfer, which lasts two to three days.
BCB president Nazmul Hassan said that the system will ensure balance among the BPL teams. A team can pick a maximum of four overseas players from the list provided by the BPL governing council. They can select from outside the list as well but those players will not be given payment guarantees from the BCB.
"We have discussed making quotas for local and foreign players," Hassan said. "We have to go for players-by-choice. They will make a list of local cricketers and divide them into different categories. We want to ensure one team is not too strong and another not too weak. We will have a long list of foreign cricketers. Every team can take four cricketers from here.
"The BPL governing council will make categories A, B and C where the prices will be fixed. We won't stop anyone from taking players from outside the list. If they pick from the list, they can make a good team worth Tk 7 crore (approx. USD 900,000). If anyone wants to bring more foreign players, the franchise will pay the players, not the BCB."
The players-by-choice was first used to determine the player transfers for the 2012-13 Dhaka Premier League season. It took the Dhaka clubs a while to understand the system despite being given a demo a few days before it was first put to use.
Under the system, the franchises will pick their choice of players from different categories. In 2013, there were seven categories, each of which had a fixed payment ranging from Tk 1 lakh (approx. USD 1,300) to 22 lakh (approx. USD 28,300).
The teams will first have to take part in a lottery to determine their calling number in each of the rounds for every category. In each round, the team that drew first in the lottery will have first choice of players. Each round will have a separate lottery.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84