BBL News - Harry Brook withdraws from BBL - LSB

The Australian Premier League has been dealt a blow with English star Harry Brook withdrawing from the tournament due to his increasing international commitments after being the second pick of the Melbourne Stars in the overseas draft.

The Stars took Brook knowing he would not be available for the back end of the tournament due to England’s Test tour of India but he was then added to England’s T20I and ODI squads for the white-ball tour of the Caribbean in December.

They had hoped he would be available for seven matches between those two commitments, but Brook pulled out of the tournament due to workload.

“Naturally we are disappointed that Harry has withdrawn from the Australian Football League, but we understand his decision as his workload increases,” Melbourne Stars general manager Blair Crouch said.

“Given that Harry is set to miss the first three matches, the club have already signed a replacement player for that period.

He added: “Currently, the technical staff and the list management team are discussing the options available for the rest of the tournament, and we look forward to announcing those contracts as soon as they are finalized.”

This is the second year in a row that one of the top two picks in the overseas draft has withdrawn from the tournament after Liam Livingstone withdrew last year after being the Melbourne Renegades’ No. 1 pick in the inaugural overseas draft.

The Stars won’t be the only team affected by this series, as Perth Scorchers’ Zak Crawley has been added to the England ODI squad while Sydney Sixers have picked Rehan Ahmed in both the ODI and T20I squads with the tour running from December 4 to December 21. He is likely to be in England’s Test squad for India in January as well.

The BBL starts on December 7 and ends on January 24.