A player draft took place on 3 June 2018. Approximately 1,600 players registered for the draft, with 600 of those from Canada. Ahead of the draft, the following ten international cricketers were named as marquee players: Shahid Afridi, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Chris Lynn, Lasith Malinga, David Miller, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy and Steve Smith. Smith played in the opening match of the tournament and Warner played in the second match of the tournament, both played their first representative matches since being found guilty of ball-tampering during the third Test match between South Africa and Australia in March 2018.