The Big Bash League an Australian professional domestic Twenty20 cricket league. It is the fast and furious domestic t20 cricket competition. Established in 2011 by Cricket Australia. And features eight city-based franchises instead of the six state teams which had participated previously. The competition has been sponsored by fast food chicken outlet KFC since its inception. The Victorian Bushrangers were the most successful team during the tournament's running, winning the title four times. now in its fifth season after the competition commenced in 2011. It is now placed eighth in the list of most attended sports leagues in the world with respect to average crowd per match. The matches are played in the country Australia during the summer in the months of December and January. Out of the eight teams in the tournament, four have won the title at least once.
Earlier, the top two teams in the tournament used to qualify for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament. It was an annual international Twenty20 competition played between the top domestic teams from various nations. However, the CLT20 has now become defunct from 2015 onwards. The KFC T20 Big Bash League provides a new entertainment option for Australian sports fans. With non-stop action and the world’s best T20 players, it’s the can’t-miss, blockbuster event of the summer.
Big Bash League (BBL) | |
Countries | |
Administrator | Cricket Australia |
Format | Twenty20 |
First tournament started | 2011–12 |
Tournament format | Round-robin and knockout finals |
Number of teams | 8 |
Current champion | Sydney Thunder (1st title - 2016) |
Most successful | Perth Scorchers (2 titles) |
Most runs | Michael Klinger (1,274) |
Most wickets | Ben Laughlin (60) |
TV | Network Ten |
Current teams
The competition features eight city-based franchises, instead of the six state-based teams which had previously competed in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. Each state's capital city features one team, with Sydney and Melbourne featuring two. The team names and colour for all teams were officially announced on 6 April 2011. The Melbourne Derby and Sydney Derby matches are some of the most heavily attended matches during the league and are widely anticipated by the fans. The Scorchers and Sixers have also developed a rivalry between them over the years and their matches attract good crowds and TV ratings.
As of now, a single city-based franchise can have a maximum of 18 contracted players for a season. Each team should have a minimum of two rookie contracts and a maximum of two overseas players in the squad. Each team can also have a maximum of two overseas replacement players, in case the original overseas players get injured or withdraw due to particular reason.
Team | City | Coach | Captain | Foreign players | ||||||
1 | Adelaide Strikers | Adelaide | Jason Gillespie | Brad Hodge | Adil Rashid Mahela Jayawardene | |||||
2 | Brisbane Heat | Brisbane | Daniel Vettori | Chris Lynn | Samuel Badree Lendl Simmons | |||||
3 | Hobart Hurricanes | Hobart | Damien Wright | Tim Paine | Stuart Broad Kumar Sangakkara | |||||
4 | Melbourne Renegades | Melbourne | David Saker | Aaron Finch | Dwayne Bravo Chris Gayle | |||||
5 | Melbourne Stars | Melbourne | Stephen Fleming | David Hussey | Luke Wright Kevin Pietersen | |||||
6 | Perth Scorchers | Perth | Justin Langer | Adam Voges | David Willey Michael Carberry | |||||
7 | Sydney Sixers | Sydney | Darren Berry | Moises Henriques | Johan Botha Michael Lumb | |||||
8 | Sydney Thunder | Sydney | Paddy Upton | Michael Hussey | Jacques Kallis Andre Russell | |||||
Adelaide Strikers
The Adelaide Strikers finished on top of the league table in the 2015-16 season but couldn’t make it count in finals, as they were easily brushed aside by an Usman Khawaja-led Sydney Thunder in their semi-final at the Adelaide Oval. The Strikers are yet to play in or win a Big Bash league final.
Adelaide Strikers squad
Travis Head, Brad Hodge, Jon Holland, Hamish Kingston, Tim Ludeman, Kieron Pollard, Adil Rashid, Kane Richardson, Craig Simmons, Kelvin Smith, Billy Stanlake
Brisbane Heat
Coming off the back of a poor 2014-15 campaign, the Brisbane Heat started 2015-16 in a similar fashion, before recording three wins at the back-end of the season on the back of some extraordinary performances by Chriss Lynn to finish in sixth spot on the ladder.
Brisbane Heat squad
Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Alex Doolan, Andrew Fekete, Luke Feldman, Jason Floros, Josh Lalor, Chris Lynn, Brendon McCullum, Jimmy Peirson, Nathan Reardon, Alex Ross, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Jack Wildermuth
Hobart Hurricanes
The Hobart Hurricanes were one of three sides to finish with three wins for the 2015-16 season, finishing just two points outside the top four. The signing of Stuart Broad, along with the retention of Kumar Sangakkara will have them in contention for the title this time around.
Hobart Hurricanes squad
George Bailey, Cameron Boyce, Stuart Broad, Daniel Christian, Ben Dunk, Ben McDermott, Dominic Michael, Simon Milenko, Tim Paine, Sam Rainbird, Jake Reed, Clive Rose, Kumar Sangakkara, Shaun Tait, Jonathan Wells
Melbourne Renegades
The ‘little brother’ team to the Stars, the Melbourne Renegades haven’t had a lot of success so far. They finished with three wins for the 2015-16 season, which saw them miss out on the finals for the third consecutive year.
Melbourne Renegades squad
Tom Beaton, Tom Cooper, Xavier Doherty, Callum Ferguson, Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, James Pattinson, Nathan Rimmington, Peter Siddle, Chris Tremain, Matthew Wade, Cameron White
Melbourne Stars
Run by Eddie McGuire and known for signing big name players, the Melbourne Stars are the glamour side in Melbourne. They’ve made finals every year of the competition but it wasn’t until 2015-16 that they won their first post-season match, before they were defeated by the Sydney Thunder in the final.
Melbourne Stars squad
Michael Beer, Scott Boland, James Faulkner, Seb Gotch, Evan Gulbis, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, John Hastings, Ben Hilfenhaus, Glenn Maxwell, Kevin Pietersen, Rob Quiney, Marcus Stoinis, Tom Triffitt, Luke Wright, Adam Zampa
Perth Scorchers
The most successful team in league history, the Perth Scorchers have played in every finals series, including four of the five Big Bash League finals to date. 2015-16 was the first year they had lost a semi-final, going down to the Melbourne Stars at the MCG.
Perth Scorchers squad
Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Ian Bell, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Klinger, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, James Muirhead, Joel Paris, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Adam Voges, Sam Whiteman, David Willey
Sydney Sixers
The Sydney Sixers were the inaugural league title winners in the 2011-12 season and made the final again in 2014-15, but were unable to enjoy any success in 2015-16. The men in pink won just two games on their way to the wooden spoon.
Sydney Sixers squad
Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Johan Botha, Ryan Carters, Ben Dwarshuis, Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson, Steve O’Keefe, Jordan Silk, Mitchell Starc
Sydney Thunder
Previously the Big Bash League’s traditional cellar dwellers, the Sydney Thunder enjoyed a season to remember in 2015-16, with Usman Khawaja, Michael Hussey, Andre Russell, Shane Watson and Jacques Kallis guiding them to a maiden title after finishing the regular season in fourth place.
Sydney Thunder squad
Pat Cummins, Jake Doran, Fawad Ahmed, Ryan Gibson, Chris Hartley, Usman Khawaja, Alister McDermott, Clint McKay, Kurtis Patterson, Ben Rohrer, Gurinder Sandhu, Shane Watson
Tournament format
Since the inception of the BBL in 2011, the tournament has followed the same format every year except the inaugural season. The first BBL season had 28 group stage matches, before expanding to 32 in the following season. Currently in the eight team format, each team plays every other team at least once during a season. However, each team is also assigned a particular "rival" with which they play for the second time in the same season. The assigned 'rival' for a team does not change generally in different seasons. Cross-town teams such as Melbourne Renegades and Melbourne Stars have been assigned as "rivals" to each other. This allows BBL to have 2 Melbourne derbies as well as 2 Sydney derbies within a single season. The group stage matches are divided into 8 rounds, with 4 matches played in each round. Each team plays 8 group stage matches, four at home and four away, before the top 4 ranked teams progress to the Semi Finals. The Final of the tournament is played at the home ground of the highest-ranked team. The only exception to this rule was 2014–15 season when the final was played at a neutral venue (Manuka Oval). Thus, the total number of matches during a season tally up to 35, with 32 group stage matches and 3 knock out matches.
History
A design contest was held in 2011 to determine the design of the Big Bash League trophy. The competition was restricted to Australian designers, with the final design, chosen by the public from a field of three, revealed on 13 December 2011.
It had been proposed that the tournament would undergo expansion into more regional areas not supported by international cricket. The expansion was planned to be implemented in 2012. The proposed teams included: Newcastle, Canberra, Geelong, and Gold Coast. A New Zealand-based team was also mentioned as a possibility which would be based at Auckland or Christchurch. Cricket expert Mark Waugh commented on Fox Sports that an expansion could dilute the player pool resulting in a sub-standard league. The expansion proposal was eventually dumped, mainly because the proposed cities lacked the proper cricket hosting facilities.n 2015, former Black Caps captain and Melbourne Stars coach Stephen Fleming suggested expansion of the tournament to include New Zealand teams and become a trans-Tasman competition. He said an expansion into New Zealand would be widely supported by locals. His views were also supported by Brisbane Heat coach and former Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori. Melbourne Renegades chief executive Stuart Coventry also stated that he wants Cricket Australia to grant each club a fifth home fixture next season. Coventry said the BBL was ready to expand from 8 to 10 games, and adding matches would further establish the franchises.
In 2016, Anthony Everard, head of the BBL, flagged the league's intentions to approach expansion through a soft launch. He stated the short to medium term goal was to schedule BBL games involving existing franchises in regional markets before likely adding new teams after the 2017/18 season when the current broadcast deal expires. He also indicated the regional markets of Canberra, Geelong and Gold Coast will likely host games during the soft launch period.
Christmas Day match
In December 2015, Cricket Australia revealed that they are looking into the possibility of hosting a Christmas Day BBL match in the coming years, possibly after the next season. If the proposal is passed, it would be a first in the history of Australian sport since no professional matches are played in Australia on Christmas Day. "It is something we have just recently started discussing, the possibilities of that. We're talking about playing a Christmas Eve match, we already play Boxing Day," CA's Executive GM (Operations) Mike McKenna said.
Salary cap and Contracting Period
The Big Bash League's salary cap was $1.05 million for the third season, a $50,000 increase from the two previous seasons, which were played under a salary cap of $1 million. In February 2015, BBL salary cap increased to $1.30 million for the fifth season of BBL.
Currently, the salary cap has increased to $1.40 million, an increase of $100,000 compared to previous season. Under the $1.40 million salary cap, a team can sign a total of 18 contracted players consisting of a minimum of 2 rookie contracts and maximum of 2 overseas players. In addition, 2 overseas replacement players can also be signed by a team.
Big Bash League fixtures
This is the fifth season after the competition commenced in 2011. The 2016-17 Big Bash League season will be contested by eight teams over eight rounds, beginning in late December and running through until the Big Final on January 24.
The 2011–12 Big Bash League season or BBL was the inaugural season of the Big Bash League, the premier Twenty20 cricket competition in Australia. The tournament replaced the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, which ran each season from 2005–06 to 2010–11.
The tournament was won by the Sydney Sixers, which defeated the Perth Scorchers in the final at the WACA Ground on 28 January 2012. David Hussey of the Melbourne Stars was named the player of the tournament, having scored 243 runs and taken eight wickets in eight matches.
The competition features eight privately owned, city-based franchises, instead of the six state-based teams which had previously competed in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. Each state's capital city features one team, with Sydney and Melbourne featuring two.
BBL Results
Season | Winner | Result | Runner Up |
2011–12 | Sydney Sixers158/3 (18.5 overs) | Sixers won by 7 wicketsScorecard | Perth Scorchers156/5 (20 overs) |
2012–13 | Brisbane Heat167/5 (20 overs) | Heat won by 34 runsScorecard | Perth Scorchers133/9 (20 overs) |
2013–14 | Perth Scorchers191/4 (20 overs) | Scorchers won by 39 runsScorecard | Hobart Hurricanes152/7 (20 overs) |
2014–15 | Perth Scorchers148/6 (20 overs) | Scorchers won by 4 wicketsScorecard | Sydney Sixers147/5 (20 overs) |
2015–16 | Sydney Thunder181/7 (19.3 overs) | Thunder won by 3 wicketsScorecard | Melbourne Stars176/9 (20 overs) |
Prize money
Cricket Australia increased the prize money for the BBL to a total of $890,000 for the four finalists from 2015–16 season, after the Champions League Twenty20 tournament was discontinued with effect from 2015. The prize money will be split between the teams as follows:
- $20,000 – To the team finishing fifth in the season
- $80,000 – To each losing semi-finalist
- $260,000 – To the Runner up
- $450,000 – To the Champion of the season
However, the additional cash increase of $600,000 will go to successful clubs and not their players. Up to the 2014–15 BBL season, a total prize money of $290,000 was awarded.
Audience
Audience
The 2014–15 season saw record domestic cricket crowds in the states of South Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania and the ACT, including a record attendance of 52, 633 at the Adelaide Strikers' home semi-final, which was then the biggest ever crowd at the redeveloped Adelaide Oval.
In 2015-16 season too, the attendance figures continued to be broken across all the venues. Perth Scorchers became the first ever BBL team to sell out all of its home matches in a season.On 2 January 2016, the BBL single match attendance record was surpassed, with a crowd of 80,883 watching the first of two Melbourne derbies between the Melbourne Stars and the Melbourne Renegades at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Big Bash League also entered into the top 10 most attended sports leagues in the world with respect to average crowd per match in this season.
Television
Australian television
BBL games are broadcast in Australia by the free-to-air Network Ten. In 2013 Ten paid $100 million for BBL rights over five years, marking the channel's first foray in elite cricket coverage.
Network Ten's BBL coverage has become a regular feature of Australian summers and attracted an average audience of more than 943,000 people nationally in 2014–15 season, including a peak audience of 1.9 million viewers for the final between the Scorchers and Sixers.
The 2015–16 season attracted an average audience of 1.13 million for each match in Australia this season, an 18% increase on the previous season. A cumulative audience of 9.65 million watched the matches in Australia, out of which 39% where females. The opening Sydney Derby match of the season attracted a peak audience of 1.53 million. The last group match between Renegades and Strikers in Session 2 was watched by an average audience of 1.36 million, which peaked at 1.67 million. The BBL Final was watched by an average audience of 1.79 million, which peaked at 2.24 million viewers. This was the first time that the ratings for a BBL match crossed the 2 million mark.
International broadcast partners
| Territory | Network |
| Australia | Network Ten (from 2013 |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport |
| Bangladesh | STAR Sports |
| Pakistan | PTV Sports |
| South Africa | SuperSport |
| India | STAR Sports |
| Sri Lanka | STAR Sports |
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports |
| United States | Willow NBCSN (from 2016-17) |
The BBL was established with one goal in mind – attract and engage new fans to the sport of cricket and protect the future of the game. Since its inception, the league has been a nothing short of a massive and resounding success throughout Australia and amongst the global cricket community.
