Photo Credit: Sydney Sixers
Chris Jordan, James Vince and 18-year-old Afghani tweaker Izharulhaq Naveed will all join the Sydney Sixers for KFC BBL|12 after they were selected by the club in the league’s inaugural Overseas Player Draft in Melbourne last night.
Picking fourth in the first two rounds, head coach Greg Shipperd, skipper Moises Henriques and the rest of the Sixers’ draft room team selected Jordan with their first pick and then Vince in the second round.
The selection of Vince came after the Sixers originally selected Laurie Evans in the second round as a tactical way to force the Scorchers to use their retention pick on Evans.
Both Jordan and Vince turned out for the Sixers last summer, with Vince having won two titles at the club, including playing a match winning hand in the BBL|10 final. The pair are expected to be available for ten matches this season.
The Sixers then passed in the third round, before grabbing Naveed in the fourth and final round.
The legbreak bowler impressed in this year’s ICC U19 World Cup, taking 10 wickets.
Shipperd said he was over the moon to snare familiar faces in Jordan and Vince, as well as looking to the future with Naveed.
“Both CJ (Jordan) and Vincey have done very well for the Sixers in the past, they are high quality international players and high quality people who fit in nicely to our group,” the veteran mentor said.
“We did a lot of work to canvas our options for this draft but we were always hopeful of having those guys return.
“We also thought another spinner would balance the team well and our research showed Naveed is a player with immense talent and someone we wanted to give an opportunity to.”
The first overall pick was owned by the Melbourne Renegades, who selected English power hitter Liam Livingstone.
Then the Stars, picking second, plonked for Rashid Khan, before they were gazumped by the Strikers who used their retention pick to wrest the star Afghani back to Adelaide.
Forced to pick again after the Strikers grabbed Khan, the Stars went for Kiwi fast bowler Trent Boult.
Next the Heat snared Sam Billings, leaving Jordan firmly in the sights of the Sixers.
For the full results of the Overseas Player Draft, click HERE.
The Sixers will now seek to sign foreign players not selected in the Draft as Overseas Replacement Players based on their nominated availabilities in the Draft.
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Sydney Sixers BBL|12 Squad
Head Coach: Greg Shipperd
Contracted Players: Moises Henriques (C), Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Dan Christian, Ben Dwarshuis, Daniel Hughes, Chris Jordan, Hayden Kerr, Nathan Lyon, Izharulhaq Naveed, Stephen O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, James Vince
Sydney Sixers BBL|12 Home Fixtures
Thu 22 Dec | Sydney Sixers v Hobart Hurricanes | SCG | 7:15pm
Mon 26 Dec | Sydney Sixers v Melbourne Stars | SCG | 6:05pm
Wed 28 Dec | Sydney Sixers v Melbourne Renegades | SCG | 7:15pm
Wed 4 Jan | Sydney Sixers v Brisbane Heat | North Sydney Oval | 6:05pm
Sun 15 Jan | Sydney Sixers v Perth Scorchers | SCG | 7:15pm
Tue 17 Jan | Sydney Sixers v Adelaide Strikers | C.ex Coffs Int. Stadium | 7:15pm
Sat 21 Jan | Sydney Sixers v Sydney Thunder | SCG | 7:05pm
Name of Author: Sydney Sixers
The Sydney Sixers are an Australian professional Twenty20 cricket team competing in the Big Bash League (BBL). Based at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Sixers, along with the Sydney Thunder, succeeded the New South Wales Blues from the now-defunct KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.
