BBL Draft: Melbourne Renegades poach Perth Scorchers star Laurie Evans in first-round shock

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

BBL Draft: Melbourne Renegades poach Perth Scorchers star Laurie Evans in first-round shock

Perth Scorchers championship-winner Laurie Evans has been poached by Melbourne Renegades in a huge play that shook up the club’s plans at the overseas player draft.

The Renegades picked Laurie Evans with the second selection of the draft, before the Scorchers were prepared to fork up for the England middle-order hitter.

Perth allocated pre-signing Finn Allen to their list with pick seven, meaning he will be classified as a platinum selection, and could not afford to add fan-favourite Evans at the same price point within their salary cap.

Evans was player-of-the-match in the club’s 2022 final victory over Sydney Sixers and returned last summer after sitting out a season over an illicit substance ban he is still fighting.

Camera IconPerth Scorchers have not retained Laurie Evans in the BBL draft. Credit: James Worsfold/Getty Images

He lit up Optus Stadium with a blistering 85 off just 28 ****** against Adelaide Strikers last season.

“We love Laurie, he has been brilliant for us over the last couple of seasons, but I guess once we made the decision to pre-sign Finn we ran the risk of one of the other teams picking Laurie up,” coach Adam Voges said.

“Unfortunately we didn’t have the salary cap to match a platinum and it’s a good get for the Renegades.”

But the veteran will again miss the Big Bash League finals series because he is already contracted to play at the same time in Abu Dhabi.

Bazball king Ben Duckett was taken by Melbourne Stars with the first pick in the draft and England top-order options were the flavour of the day, with Sydney Sixers retaining James Vince with their second pick.

More to come.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#BBL #Draft #Melbourne #Renegades #poach #Perth #Scorchers #star #Laurie #Evans #firstround #shock

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up