A draft for the tournament was held in September and saw some notable action. Laurie Evans moved from long-term BBL home Perth Scorchers, who were unable to use their retention option with limited funds remaining in their purse. Scorchers also signed Finn Allen to bolster their batting ranks.

Hobart Hurricanes signed Bangladesh's Rishad Hossain, who was set to become only the second Bangladesh player to feature in the BBL, the other being Shakib-Al-Hasan. However, Hossain has since pulled out of the tournament, which clashes with the BPL. There was another leg-spinner given a surprising first gig in the BBL, with English leggie Jafer Chohan picked up by Sydney Sixers. Chohan has yet to earn his maiden international cap, but took 17 wickets for Yorkshire in the 2024 T20 Blast, and was selected in England's squad to play West Indies recently.

Since the draft, David Warner has been named as Sydney Thunder captain following the overturn of his leadership ban by Cricket Australia. Marcus Stoinis has also been named as Melbourne Stars captain, taking over from Glenn Maxwell who resigned at the end of last summer.

Maxwell is battling injury to be able to participate in the tournament, having picked up a hamstring injury in Australia's white-ball series against Pakistan. He has a tight race against time to be fit for the start of the BBL.

Big Bash League 2024/25: Full squad lists

Adelaide Strikers: Fabian Allen, James Bazley, Cameron Boyce, Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett Travis Head, Thomas Kelly, Chris Lynn, Harry Nielsen, Jamie Overton, Lloyd Pope, Ollie Pope, Alex Ross, D'Arcy Short, Matthew Short (c), Henry Thornton, Jake Weatherald.

Brisbane Heat: Tom Alsop, Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Spencer Johnson, Usman Khawaja (c), Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Colin Munro, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Will Prestwidge, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Callum Vicler, Paul Walter, Jack Wildermuth, Jack Wood.

Hobart Hurricanes: Iain Carlisle, Nikhil Chaudhary, Tim David, Paddy Dooley, Jake Doran, Nathan Ellis, Peter Hatzoglou, Shai Hope, Caleb Jewell, Chris Jordan, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Waqar Salamkheil, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Wade (c), Charlie Wakim, Mac Wright.

Melbourne Renegades: Jacob Bethell, Josh Brown, Xavier Crone, Harry Dixon, Laurie Evans, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Hassan Khan, Nathan Lyon, Fergus O'Neill, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Gurinder Sandhu, Tim Seifert, Will Sutherland (c), Jon Wells, Adam Zampa.

Melbourne Stars: Scott Boland, Hilton Cartwright, Joe Clarke, Brody Couch, Tom Curran, Ben Duckett, Sam Harper, Campbell Kellaway, Glenn Maxwell, Hamish McKenzie, Jonathan Merlo, Adam Milne, Usama Mir, Joel Paris, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Mark Steketee, Marcus Stoinis (c), Doug Warren, Beau Webster.

Perth Scorchers: Ashton Agar, Finn Allen, Mahli Beardman, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Sam Fanning, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Matthew Hurst, Josh Inglis, Keaton Jennings, Matt Kelly, Mitchell Marsh, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Matthew Spoors, Ashton Turner (c), Andrew Tye.

Sydney Sixers: Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Jafer Chohan, Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques (c), Akeal Hosein, Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Ben Manenti, Todd Murphy, Kurtis Patterson Mitchell Perry, Josh Phillippe, Jordan Silk, Steve Smith, James Vince.

Sydney Thunder: Wes Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Sam Billings, Ollie Davies, Lockie Ferguson, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Liam Hatcher, Sam Konstas, Nic Maddinson, Nathan McAndrew, Sherfane Rutherford, Will Salzmann, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner (c).

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