The 2024 Major League Cricket players' draft was held on March 21, 2024, ahead of the 2024 Major League Cricket season.[1] The draft was held virtually.[2] An additional draft is scheduled to be held on June 16, 2024 to complete the squads.[3]
However, the draft was not broadcast and a recap of the event was released by the Major League Cricket through their social media platforms.
The draft was conducted over 10 rounds divided on the basis of salary cap, using the "snake" format. Out of the 125 players in the draft list, 20 players were drafted.[4]
The draft is exclusive to domestic players, like the previous season, however teams are able to announce newly signed players during the draft.[5]
Each team were allowed to have a minimum of nine domestic players and maximum of ten, with a mandatory U23 player in their squads. Until all the teams had passed, the draft round continued in the snake format. Each team could draft two players in each level, if they had enough purse available.[3]
The draft had fixed salary caps for each round, with the highest being $75,000 in the first round and the lowest being $5,000 in the Rookie (U23) round.[3]
The draft pick order was based on the reverse order of the teams' finishing positions in the 2023 season standings. Los Angeles Knight Riders had the first pick, if the team did not have enough purse to draft a player, they were automatically passed to the next team.
Teams were set a deadline for the end of February 2024 to announce overseas and domestic player retentions for the season, with a maximum of nine overseas slots allowed in each team.[6] Any remaining domestic players would be available to be picked by teams during the main draft.[7]
On February 15, 2024, the retained overseas players' lists were announced.[8][9] On March 1, 2024, the domestic player retention list was announced.[10]
Retained overseas players for the 2024 Major League Cricket season
New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
West Indies
