Former women's Test captain and Head of Brisbane's Centre of Excellence, Belinda Clark revealed on 19 January 2014 the planning for a women's BBL is in its early stages but it could become a reality very soon. They are considering it for the huge rise in television ratings in the BBL 03 season and the rise in women's cricket popularity. On 19 February 2015, Cricket Australia announced that a Women's Big Bash League would commence in season 2015/2016, with teams aligned to the current men's competition. The teams will share the names and colours of the existing men's BBL teams, meaning that there will be two teams from each of Sydney and Melbourne while one team from each of Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart. The WBBL replaced the WNCL Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup, which ran from the 2007–08 season through to the 2014–15 season. The competition features eight city-based franchises, branded identically to the franchises in the men's Big Bash League. A number of matches during the competition's inaugural 2015–16 season were broadcast by Network Ten, a free-to-air network. The naming rights sponsor for the WBBL is Rebel Sport.
Women's Big Bash League | |
Countries | Australia |
Administrator | Cricket Australia |
Format | Twenty20 |
First tournament | 2015–16 |
Tournament format | Round-robin and knockout finals |
Number of teams | 8 |
Current champion | Sydney Thunder (1st title) |
Most successful | Sydney Thunder (1 title) |
Most runs | Meg Lanning (560) |
Most wickets | Rene Farrell (26) |
TV | Network Ten One |
History
Women's International Cricket League
In early 2014, the formation of an international women's Twenty20 competition, based around the franchise model of the Indian Premier League was announced. Headed by former Australian cricketer Lisa Sthalekar and Australian businessman Shaun Martyn, it was proposed that the six teams, based in Singapore, would all be privately owned, and players earning over $US40,000 per season.
There was strong support from top female players for the concept, and support was sought from the International Cricket Council, while former international cricketers Geoff Lawson and Clive Lloyd where on the board of the organisation.
The concept was dealt a blow in early June, when the England and Wales Cricket Board announced that they would refuse to release centrally contracted English players. At the same time, Cricket Australia announced it would also refuse to release its players for the tournament. Both organisations expressed concern that the tournament was not being centrally run by a national cricket board, but a private company.
Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup
Before the establishment of the Women's Big Bash League, Cricket Australia conducted a national Twenty20 competition, the Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup. The tournament ran in conjunction with the Women's National Cricket League, the Australian national women's limited overs competition, with the final being played as a double header with the Twenty20 Big Bash and the Big Bash League.
The competition ran from 2009-2010 season to the 2014-2015 season, with some exhibition games being held in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. The competition was wound up after the 2014-2015 season to make way for the Women's Big Bash League.
Establishment
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said in a media release, “We see T20 as the premium format of the women’s game and the WBBL is an exciting concept that will increase the promotion and exposure of women’s cricket”. Sutherland also said, “Our existing female domestic competitions are arguably the strongest in the world, with the continued success of the top-ranked women’s team, the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars, a testament to that”. Cricket Australia executive Mike McKenna said, "Our goal is to see cricket become the sport of choice for women and girls across the nation, whether as participants or fans". On 13 October 2015, 100 of Australia’s elite cricketers joined together to pledge $20 million towards the growth of cricket in Australia, to help grassroots level Cricket, support former players and develop further opportunities for female cricketers.
Current teams
The competition features the same eight city-based franchises that is in the Big Bash League. Each state's capital city features one team, with Sydney and Melbourne featuring two.
| Team | City | Coach | Captain | Foreign players | |
| 1 | Adelaide Strikers | Adelaide | Andrea McCauley, Shelley Nitschke* | Lauren Ebsary | Sarah Taylor, Sophie Devine, Stacy-Ann King |
| 2 | Brisbane Heat | Brisbane | Andy Richards | Jodie Fields, Delissa Kimmince** | Kate Cross, Lauren Winfield |
| 3 | Hobart Hurricanes | Hobart | Julia Price | Heather Knight | Amy Satterthwaite, Hayley Matthews, Heather Knight |
| 4 | Melbourne Renegades | Melbourne | Lachlan Stevens | Sarah Elliott | Dane van Niekerk, Danielle Wyatt, Rachel Priest, Shabnim Ismail |
| 5 | Melbourne Stars | Melbourne | David Hemp | Meg Lanning | Natalie Sciver, Mignon du Preez, Morna Nielsen, Hayley Jensen |
| 6 | Perth Scorchers | Perth | Mark Atkinson | Nicole Bolton | Suzie Bates, Charlotte Edwards, Katherine Brunt, Nicky Shaw, Deandra Dottin |
| 7 | Sydney Sixers | Sydney | Ben Sawyer, Lisa Sthalekar*** | Ellyse Perry | Laura Marsh, Sara McGlashan, Marizanne Kapp |
| 8 | Sydney Thunder | Sydney | Paddy Upton | Alex Blackwell | Stafanie Taylor |
Perth Scorchers Women Squad
1. Nicole Bolton (c)
2. Megan Banting
3. Suzie Bates
4. Emma Biss
5. Katherine Brunt
6. Jess Cameron
7. Piepa Cleary
8. Laura Delany
9. Deandra Dottin
10. Charlotte Edwards
11. Heather Graham
12. Katie-Jane Hartshorn
13. Emma King
14. Chloe Piparo
15. Nicky Shaw
16. Elyse Villani
17. Jenny Wallace (wk)
Melbourne Stars Women Squad
1. Meg Lanning (c)
2. Kelly Applebee
3. Lily Bardsley
4. Kristen Beams
5. Hayleigh Brennan
6. Mignon du Preez
7. Kath Hempenstall
8. Emma Inglis (wk)
9. Hayley Jensen
10. Emma Kearney
11. Alana King
12. Anna Lanning
13. Katie Mack
14. Morna Nielsen
15. Natalie Plane
16. Natalie Sciver
17. Gemma Triscari
18. Wu Juan
Hobart Hurricanes Women Squad
1. Heather Knight (c)
2. Erin Burns
3. Katelyn Fryett
4. Kim Garth
5. Corinne Hall
6. Brooke Hepburn
7. Julie Hunter
8. Hayley Matthews
9. Sasha Moloney
10. Meg Phillips
11. Veronica Pyke
12. Celeste Raack
13. Amy Satterthwaite
14. Emily Smith (wk)
15. Emma Thompson
Sydney Sixers Women Squad
1. Ellyse Perry (c)
2. Sarah Aley
3. Rhiannon Dick
4. Ashleigh Gardner
5. Alyssa Healy
6. Jodie Hicks
7. Sara Hungerford (wk)
8. Marizanne Kapp
9. Emily Leys
10. Sara McGlashan
11. Laura Marsh
12. Angela Reakes
13. Rachel Scholes
14. Lauren Smith
15. Lisa Sthalekar
16. Kara Sutherland
Sydney Thunder Women Squad
1. Alex Blackwell (c)
2. Samantha Bates
3. Nicola Carey
4. Lauren Cheatle
5. Stefanie Daffara
6. Rene Farrell
7. Maisy Gibson
8. Rachael Haynes
9. Mikayla Hinkley
10. Claire Koski (wk)
11. Suleeporn Laomi
12. Erin Osborne
13. Naomi Stalenberg
14. Stafanie Taylor
15. Belinda Vakarewa
Adelaide Strikers Women Squad
1. Lauren Ebsary (c)
2. Samantha Betts
3. Sarah Coyte
4. Sophie Devine
5. Stacy-Ann King
6. Tahlia McGrath
7. Tegan McPharlin
8. Shelley Nitschke
9. Bridget Patterson
10. Hannah Perry
11. Alex Price
12. Megan Schutt
13. Sarah Taylor (wk)
14. Miranda Veringmeier
15. Amanda-Jade Wellington
Brisbane Heat Women Squad
1. Delissa Kimmince (c)
2. Jemma Barsby
3. Ashleigh Barty
4. Kate Cross
5. Holly Ferling
6. Abi Godfrey
7. Grace Harris
8. Laura Harris
9. Courtney Hill
10. Sammy-Jo Johnson
11. Jess Jonassen
12. Beth Mooney (wk)
13. Norma Ovasuru
14. Kirby Short
15. Lauren Winfield
Melbourne Renegades Women Squad
1. Sarah Elliott (c)
2. Briana Binch
3. Makinley Blows
4. Kris Britt
5. Cassie Brock
6. Nicola Hancock
7. Mariko Hill
8. Shabnim Ismail
9. Erica Kershaw (wk)
10. Kirsty Lamb
11. Sophie Molineux
12. Rachel Priest (wk)
13. Molly Strano
14. Jenny Taffs
15. Dane van Niekerk
16. Georgia Wareham
17. Danielle Wyatt
Tournament format
Out of the eight teams in the tournament, four have won the title at least once. The Perth Scorchers are the most successful team in the league's history, winning the title consecutively for two seasons in 2013–14 and 2014–15.They also hold the record for reaching the final of the tournament in the first four consecutive seasons, with only one other team reaching the final twice.The other three teams which have won the title are the Sydney Sixers in the inaugural season (2011–12), the Brisbane Heat in the second season (2012–13) and the Sydney Thunder in 2015-16.
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.
Media coverage
The 2015/16 season initially planned to have 8 of the 59 matches air live on Australian free-to-air network . TV ratings success encouraged the Ten network to also add coverage of the semi-finals and move two of the remaining three matches to its main channel (Ten). ITV4 are looking in to the rights also. Women Big Bash League Melbourne Derby clash between Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades was moved from One to Network Ten. The TV ratings for the Women's Big Bash League convinced Network Ten to move January's Melbourne Derby to their main broadcast channel. The WBBL commentary team is led by Andrew Maher with former Australian players Mel Jones and Lisa Sthalekar.
