The inaugural European T20 Premier League Player Draft was successfully held on July 2, 2026, marking a major milestone for franchise cricket in Europe. Six franchises came together to build the local core of their squads by selecting players eligible to represent Ireland, Scotland, and the Netherlands.
The draft featured a structured selection process across 270 players instead of an auction, ensuring every franchise had an equal opportunity to sign top local talent. A total of 36 players were drafted across six rounds, with each team selecting six local cricketers.
These players will now form the backbone of their respective franchises with the marquee international signings ahead of the tournament, which is scheduled to take place from August 26 to September 20, 2026.
ETPL 2026 Draft Rules: All You Need To Know
The ETPL 2026 Player Draft followed a snake draft format, where the selection order reversed after every round to ensure fairness among all six franchises.
The first-round order was decided through a random draw of lots, while each team received five minutes to make every selection, followed by a 30-second cooling-off period before the next pick.
The draft was completed in six rounds, with every franchise selecting six local players. Teams were allowed to build squads of up to 12 players affiliated with the host boards, while maintaining a mandatory quota of 6-8 local players from Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, or the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond (KNCB).
During the tournament, every franchise must field seven local players alongside four marquee overseas stars in its playing XI, ensuring strong representation from Europe's leading associate cricket nations.
Unlike a traditional auction, the ETPL adopted a fixed salary structure where player earnings were determined solely by the round in which they were selected. This eliminated bidding wars and ensured equal spending opportunities for every franchise.
Each franchise has a total seasonal salary budget of USD $1.48 million, with only a portion allocated to local draft selections. The remaining purse is reserved for signing marquee international players through separate negotiations.
Draft Round Tier
Player Salary
Round 1
USD $55,000
Round 2
USD $50,000
Round 3
USD $45,000
Round 4
USD $40,000
Round 5
USD $35,000
Round 6
USD $30,000
Round 7
USD $25,000
Round 8
USD $20,000
Since salaries are predetermined, franchises cannot offer higher contracts to secure a particular local player. This system helps maintain competitive balance while guaranteeing standardized payments to all drafted domestic players across the league.
ETPL 2026: Which Are The Teams To Participate?
The inaugural edition of the European T20 Premier League will feature six city-based franchises representing some of Europe's biggest cricketing hubs.
European T20 Premier League 2026: Direct And Marquee Signings
Edinburgh Castle Rockers: Mitchell Santner (c), Brandon McMullen, Tom Bruce, Tom Curran, Andries Gous, Khuzaima Bin Tanveer, JJ Smuts, Trent Boult
Belfast Irish Wolves: Glenn Maxwell (c) [More players to be announced]
Dublin Guardians: Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Lorcan Tucker [More players to be announced]
Rotterdam Dockers: Anrich Nortje, Donovan Ferreira, Mitchell Owen, Sandeep Lamichhane, Shubham Ranjane, David Wiese, Ben Manenti, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek
Amsterdam Flames: Mitchell Marsh (c), Yuvraaj Samra, Steve Smith, Tim David, David Payne, Michael Bracewell, Ali Hassan, Dipendra Singh Airee, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards
Glasgow Cosmic: Ali Khan, Richie Berrington, Finn Allen, George Munsey, Gerhard Erasmus, Josh Philippe, Moises Henriques, Kehsav Maharaj, Kamindu Mendis, Lungi Ngidi, Liam Livingstone, Duan Jansen
ETPL 2026: Full Squads Of Teams
Dublin Guardians
Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Lorcan Tucker, Benjamin Calitz, George Dockrell, Matthew Hollard, Craig Young, Noah Croes, Chris Greaves [More players to be announced]
Belfast Wolves
Glenn Maxwell (c), Matthew Humphreys, Fred Klaassen, Tim Tector, Paul Stirling, Zainullah Ihsan, Alexander Roy [More players to be announced]
Edinburgh Castle Rockers
Mitchell Santner (c), Brandon McMullen, Tom Bruce, Tom Curran, Andries Gous, Khuzaima Bin Tanveer, JJ Smuts, Trent Boult, Gareth Delany, Ross Adair, Jack Jarvis, Charlie Tear, Safyaan Sharif, Finlay McCreath
Amsterdam Flames
Mitchell Marsh (c), Yuvraaj Samra, Steve Smith, Tim David, David Payne, Michael Bracewell, Ali Hassan, Dipendra Singh Airee, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards, Curtis Campher, Kyle Klein, Tim Pringle, Aryan Dutt, Jordan Neill, Max O'Dowd
Glasgow Cosmic
Ali Khan, Richie Berrington, Finn Allen, George Munsey, Gerhard Erasmus, Josh Philippe, Moises Henriques, Kehsav Maharaj, Kamindu Mendis, Lungi Ngidi, Liam Livingstone, Duan Jansen, Brad Currie, Matthew Cross, Paul van Meekeren, Michael Leask, Oliver Davidson, Chris McBride
Rotterdam Dockers
Anrich Nortje, Donovan Ferreira, Mitchell Owen, Sandeep Lamichhane, Shubham Ranjane, David Wiese, Ben Manenti, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Jai Moondra, Michael Levitt, Ryan Klein, Jasper Davidson, Vikramjit Singh, Saqib Zulfiqar
![The ETPL 2026 Logo [Source: ETPLOfficial/X]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1782979225088_ETPL2026Draft.jpg?type=hq)
The ETPL 2026 Logo [Source: ETPLOfficial/X]
