World Cup winner Liam Livingston withdraws from the 12th edition of the Big Bash league.
The Big Bash League’s efforts to bolster international star power through an overseas player drought have suffered another big setback with the withdrawal of No. 1 pick Liam Livingstone from the event.
Livingstone was selected with the first choice in the inaugural KFC BBL Draft by the Melbourne Renegades and was scheduled to be available for the club’s first eight games of the season before departing for South Africa’s new domestic T20 competition.
However, since the draught on August 28, the 29-year-old big-hitting allrounder has been named to the England Test team for their three-match tour of Pakistan in December, ruling him out of the Renegades’ first four BBL|12.
From the Gaffa
“We’re obviously disappointed that we won’t have Liam as part of our team this summer, but we understand his decision,” said Renegades General Manager James Rosengarten.
“Liam is a fantastic cricketer and there’s a reason we used our first pick in the draft to select him.
“Since then, his schedule has changed with added international duties, and we wish him the best as he pushes for a Test debut.
“This news has allowed us to explore replacement options with greater availability beyond the first half of the tournament, and we look forward to being able to announce another big-name addition for the Renegades soon.”
Rosengarten stated that Livingstone had already been anticipating the opportunity to work with Renegades head coach David Saker, who was part of England’s successful World Cup coaching squad. He hoped they could do so in the following seasons.
However, because Livingstone did not play a single match during BBL|12, the Renegades will be unable to use their retention pick to grab one of the world’s most sought-after T20 players if he enters next year’s BBL Draft.
After the Sydney Thunder’s No.7 pick, David Willey, withdrew from the entire competition a week ago, the Big Bash has already lost two of its platinum-level picks for this season.
They will kick off their BBL|12 campaign against the Brisbane Heat in Cairns on December 15, with their first home game against the Thunder at Marvel Stadium on December 18.
Melbourne Renegades BBL|12 Squad (so far)
Nic Maddinson (c), Zak Evans, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Akeal Hosein (West Indies), Ruwantha Kellapotha (Sri Lanka), Shaun Marsh, Jack Prestwidge, Kane Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Tom Rogers, Andre Russell (West Indies), Will Sutherland, Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Jon Wells
