Global T20 Canada: From Steve Smith and David Warner's return to full squads, all you need to know about new league

Australia stars Steve Smith and David Warner, who are banned from top-flight international cricket for 12 months, were drafted on Sunday for the Global T20 Canada event starting 28 June. Former Australia captain Smith had already been announced as a marquee player for the inaugural edition of the event. Smith and Warner were sacked after the third Test against South Africa in March, later accepting a 12-month ban by Cricket Australia for their role in the ball-tampering scandal that rocked the sport. Opening batsman Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months. [caption id=“attachment_4494517” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Steven Smith is one of the biggest draws of the Canada-based latest T20 league. AFP[/caption] Warner was selected in the third round of the draft by the Winnipeg Hawks, who took West Indies’ Dwayne Bravo and South African left-hander David Miller in the first and second rounds. Smith was taken in the second round by the Toronto Nationals, where he’ll play alongside West Indian star Darren Sammy and fellow West Indies all rounder Kieron Pollard. Apart from the players, prominent coaches Tom Moody and Waqar Younis have been roped in to lead franchises in the inaugural Global T20 Canada League later this month. Younis will be the coach of the Winnipeg Eagles, while Moody will be in charge of the Montreal Tigers. Toronto Nationals’ coaching duties will be taken up by former West Indies coach Phil Simmions, with former Pakistan pacer and having coached Peshwar Zalmi, Mohammad Akram will be a part of Edmonton Royals. Jamaican coach Donovan Miller will look after Vancouver Knights, rounding out the coaching positions. The five coaches took part in the draft, where each team grabbed two of the 10 marquee stars – including Shahid Afridi, Chris Gayle and Lasith Malinga – and 14 additional players from a talent pool of 1,500 worldwide who registered for selection. Four roster spots will be set aside for Canadians, including one for a Canadian U-23 player. The inaugural month-long competition will feature six teams, with the five Canadian sides joined by a Cricket West Indies representative team, consisting entirely of players from the Caribbean. The league will see 22 matches played in a round-robin format that culminates in playoffs and with the championship match to be held on 15 July. All contests will take place at Maple Leaf Cricket Club in Toronto. According to reports, the ground has a capacity of 7,000 seats. Here are the full squads of the five teams – the sixth and the final team, a representative side from the Caribbean – yet to be announced. Edmonton Royals Coach: Mohammad Akram Shahid Afridi, Chris Lynn, Luke Ronchi, Mohammad Irfan, Sohail Tanvir, Christiaan Jonker, Wayne Parnell, Asif Ali, Hasan Khan, Agha Salman, Shaiman Anwar, Ammar Khalid, Satsimranjit Dhindsa, Ahmed Raza, Simon Pervez, Abraash Khan. Montreal Tigers Coach: Tom Moody Lasith Malinga, Sunil Narine, Thisara Perera, Mohammad Hafeez, Denesh Ramdin, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sikandar Raza, Dasun Shanaka, Isuru Udana, George Worker, Najibullah Zadran, Cecil Pervez, Ibrahim Khaleel, Dillon Heyliger, Nicholas Kirton, Rayyan Pathan. Toronto Nationals Coach: Phil Simmons Darren Sammy, Steve Smith, Kieron Pollard, Kamran Akmal, Hussain Talat, Rumman Raees, Nikhil Dutta, Johnson Charles, Kesrick Williams, Naved Ahmed, Nizakat Khan, Farhan Malik, Nitish Kumar, Usama Mir, Rohan Mustafa, Mohammad Umair Ghani. Vancouver Knights Coach: Donovan Miller Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Evin Lewis, Tim Southee, Chadwick Walton, Fawad Ahmed, Babar Hayat, Sheldon Cottrell, Saad Bin Zafar, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Srimantha Wijeratne, Kamau Leverock, Steven Jacobs, Salman Nazar, Rassie van der Dussen, Jeremy Gordon. Winnipeg Hawks Coach: Waqar Younis Dwayne Bravo, David Miller, David Warner, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Rayad Emrit, Ben McDermott, Ali Khan, Hamza Tariq, Junaid Siddiqui, Tion Webster, Rizwan Cheema, Hiral Patel, Mark Deyal, Kyle Phillip. Schedule 29 June, 2018 1.30 am, Toronto Nationals v Vancouver Knights 30 June, 2018 1.30 am, Montreal Tigers v Winnipeg Hawks 8.30 pm Toronto Nationals v Edmonton Royals 1 July, 2018 1.30 am Montreal Tigers v WI 8.30 pm Vancouver Knights v Winnipeg Hawks 2 July, 2018 1.30 am Edmonton Royals v WI 8.30 pm Toronto Nationals v Winnipeg Hawks 3 July, 2018 1.30 am Montreal Tigers v Vancouver Knights 5 July, 2018 1.30 am Montreal Tigers v Edmonton Royals 6 July, 2018 1.30 am Winnipeg Hawks v WI 7 July, 2018 1.30 am Vancouver Knights v Edmonton Royals 8.30 pm Toronto Nationals v WI 8 July, 2018 1.30 am Winnipeg Hawks v Edmonton Royals 8.30 pm Vancouver Knights v WI 9 July, 2018 1.30 am Toronto Nationals v Montreal Tigers SECOND ROUND 10 July, 2018 8.30 pm First place v Sixth place 11 July, 2018 1.30 am Second place v Fifth place 12 July, 2018 1.30 am Third place v Fourth place PLAYOFFS 8.30 pm Playoff 1 13 July, 2018 1.30 am Playoff 2 15 July, 2018 12.30 am Playoff 2 16 July, 2018 12.30 am Final With inputs from AFP