Liam Livingstone, Alex Hales headline BBL-12 draft

Melbourne: A record 70 English nominations, led by the charismatic Liam Livingstone and Alex Hales, are set to headline the Big Bash League-12 (BBL-12) player draft to be held on August 28. The 28-year-old Livingstone, the third most prolific six-hitter in T20s this year with 52 behind Tim David (72) and Rilee Rossouw (56), did not compete in BBL-11 after playing the previous two seasons with the Perth Scorchers.

The Scorchers, though, will not be able to use their retention pick to draft him, "with a player needing to have been played at least once in the preceding season to qualify", according to a report in cricket.com.au.

Livingstone will be among the hottest properties in the BBL as he scored 851 runs at 30.39 and a strike rate of 138.15 in his two previous appearances in the BBL. The T20 all-rounder has since cracked a mind-boggling 138 sixes in 75 games to lead all batters since the start of 2021.

He emerged as the highest scorer in the inaugural The Hundred tournament in 2021 with 348 runs at a strike rate of 178, while in the IPL this year, he scored 437 runs at a strike rate of 182 for Punjab Kings.

More than 180 overseas players have been nominated for the BBL-12 Draft. Some more nominations are expected in the coming weeks.

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