Big Bash League

The Big Bash League (known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, often abbreviated to BBL or Big Bash) is an Australian professional franchise Twenty20 cricket league, which was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia. The Big Bash League replaced the previous competition, the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, 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. It is one of the two T20 cricket leagues, alongside the Indian Premier League, to feature amongst the top ten domestic sport leagues in average attendance. The winner of BBL 10 (2020/2021) was the Sydney Sixers who beat the Perth Scorchers by 27 runs in the final. The Sydney Sixers successfully defended the title after winning it in the 2019/2020 season, after defeating the Melbourne Stars.

BBL matches are played in Australia during the summer; in December, January and February.

Out of the eight teams in the tournament, six have won the title at least once. The Perth Scorchers and the Sydney Sixers are the most successful teams in the league’s short history, both having won the title three times including consecutively for two years. The other four teams which have won the title are the Adelaide Strikers, Melbourne Renegades, Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder. The current champions are the Sydney Sixers defeating the Perth Scorchers on 6 February 2021 at the Sydney Cricket Ground by 27 runs.

Before 2014, the top two teams in the tournament used to qualify for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, which was an annual international Twenty20 competition played between the top domestic teams from various nations; it became defunct after the 2014 tournament.

History

Trophy

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.

Expansion proposal

Perth Scorchers taking on Hobart Hurricanes at the WACA in 2011

It had been proposed that the tournament would undergo expansion into more regional areas not supported by international cricket. The expansion was originally 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, but this is unlikely to happen. The expansion proposal was suspended, mainly because the proposed cities lacked the proper cricket hosting facilities.

Shane Warne bowling against Sydney Sixers in 2011 at the SCG

In 2015, former Black Caps captain and Melbourne Stars coach Stephen Fleming suggested the 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 potentially adding new teams after the 2017–18 season when the broadcast deal expired. He also indicated the regional markets of Canberra, Geelong and Gold Coast will likely host games during the soft launch period. On 27 January 2017, Everard announced an extra eight matches would be added to the 2017–18 season and implored each existing franchise to look at new markets when considering where the extra games would be played, although the lengthened season was not implemented until 2018–19.

In 2018, it was reported that the Gold Coast Suns were interested in securing a Big Bash League franchise if the competition was expanded.

Women’s Big Bash League

Former women’s Test captain and Head of Brisbane’s Centre of Excellence, Belinda Clark, revealed on 19 January 2014 that planning for a women’s BBL was in its early stages but could become a reality very soon. She stated that the proposal was being considered due to the huge rise in television ratings during the 2013–14 season, and the rise in women’s cricket popularity.

On 19 February 2015, Cricket Australia announced that a Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) would commence in the 2015–16 season, with teams aligned to the men’s competition. It was announced that the teams would share the names and colours of the existing men’s BBL teams, meaning that there would be two teams from Sydney and Melbourne and one team from Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart.

The inaugural Women’s Big Bash League was won by the Sydney Thunder against the Sydney Sixers. The Sydney Thunder won by 3 wickets. However WBBL 02 and 03 were won by the Sydney Sixers.

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. This has not yet occurred, but in September 2018, it was reported that Cricket Australia had struck a deal with the Players Association to play BBL matches on Christmas Day.

Tournament format

Ben Cutting of Brisbane Heat batting against Melbourne Stars in 2014

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.

Since the 2018–19 season, each team plays all other teams twice during a season, for a total of 56 regular season matches before the finals series.

In previous seasons of the tournament, the group stage matches were divided into eight rounds, with four matches played in each round. Each team played six other teams once during a season, and one team twice. This allowed for both Sydney and Melbourne (which have two teams each) to play 2 derbies within a single season. Each team played eight group stage matches, four at home and four away, before the top four ranked teams progressed to the semi finals. In the 2017/18 Season, the format changed so that there would be 40 group stage matches with each team playing 10 matches before the semi finals. The season was held over a similar time-frame thus resulting in more doubleheaders (one game afternoon, one game night) and teams playing more regularly.

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), due to the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

In the 2018–19 season, the league introduced a ‘bat flip’ (instead of a coin toss) to decide who would bat/bowl first.

The finals structure was changed in the 2019–20 season to look like this:

BBL|09 Finals Series (Home team listed first)

Thurs Jan 30: The Eliminator (Fourth v Fifth)

Fri Jan 31: The Qualifier (First v Second)

Sat Feb 1: The Knock-Out (Third v Winner of The Eliminator)

Thurs Feb 6: The Challenger (Loser of The Qualifier v Winner of The Knock-Out)

Sat Feb 8: The Final (Winner of The Qualifier v Winner of The Challenger)

In order to give BBL a boost Cricket Australia has decided to introduce three new rules—Power Surge, X-Factor Player and the Bash Boost—in 2020 edition 

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 colours 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.

A single city-based franchise can have a maximum of 19 contracted players for a season, with the squad including a minimum of two rookie contracts and a maximum of six overseas players, although only three international players can play in each match from 2020–2021 edition. Each team can also have a maximum of two overseas replacement players, in case the original overseas players get injured or withdraw.

Big Bash League is located in Australia

Scorchers
Scorchers
Strikers
Strikers
Heat
Heat
Hurricanes
Hurricanes
Stars
Stars
Renegades
Renegades
Sixers
Sixers
Thunder
Thunder

Location of Big Bash League teams

Team City State Home ground Coach Captain
Adelaide Strikers Adelaide South Australia Adelaide Oval Jason Gillespie Alex Carey
Brisbane Heat Brisbane Queensland Brisbane Cricket Ground Darren Lehmann Chris Lynn
Hobart Hurricanes Hobart Tasmania Blundstone Arena Adam Griffith Matthew Wade
Melbourne Renegades Melbourne Victoria Marvel Stadium Michael Klinger Aaron Finch
Melbourne Stars Melbourne Victoria Melbourne Cricket Ground David Hussey Glenn Maxwell
Perth Scorchers Perth Western Australia Perth Stadium (Optus) Adam Voges Ashton Turner
Sydney Sixers Sydney New South Wales Sydney Cricket Ground Greg Shipperd Moises Henriques
Sydney Thunder Sydney New South Wales Manuka Oval Shane Bond Callum Ferguson

Tournament season and results

The Perth Scorchers and the Sydney Sixers have won the title three times: the Scorchers in the 2013–14, 2014–15, and 2016–17 seasons and the Sixers in the 2011–12, 2019–20, and 2020–21 seasons.  Both of these teams have won the title in consecutive seasons. 

The Scorchers have reached the final of the tournament six times. Out of the eight teams in the tournament, six have won the title at least once. Only two other teams (the Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars) have reached the final at least twice The other four teams which have won the title once are the Brisbane Heat in the second season (2012–13), the Sydney Thunder in (2015–16),  the Adelaide Strikers in (2017–18),  and the Melbourne Renegades in (2018–19). 

The WACA Ground has hosted the final on four occasions, the most of any venue.

BBL season winner
Season Final Final host Final venue
Winner Result Runner-up
2011–12
Details
Sydney Sixers
3/158 (18.5 overs)
Sixers won by 7 wickets
Scorecard
Perth Scorchers
5/156 (20 overs)
Perth Scorchers WACA Ground
2012–13
Details
Brisbane Heat
5/167 (20 overs)
Heat won by 34 runs
Scorecard
Perth Scorchers
9/133 (20 overs)
Perth Scorchers WACA Ground
2013–14
Details
Perth Scorchers
4/191 (20 overs)
Scorchers won by 39 runs
Scorecard
Hobart Hurricanes
7/152 (20 overs)
Perth Scorchers WACA Ground
2014–15
Details
Perth Scorchers
6/148 (20 overs)
Scorchers won by 4 wickets
Scorecard
Sydney Sixers
5/147 (20 overs)
Canberra/Perth Scorchers Manuka Oval
2015–16
Details
Sydney Thunder
7/181 (19.3 overs)
Thunder won by 3 wickets
Scorecard
Melbourne Stars
9/176 (20 overs)
Melbourne Stars MCG
2016–17
Details
Perth Scorchers
1/144 (15.5 overs)
Scorchers won by 9 wickets
Scorecard
Sydney Sixers
9/141 (20 overs)
Perth Scorchers WACA Ground
2017–18
Details
Adelaide Strikers
2/202 (20 overs)
Strikers won by 25 runs
Scorecard
Hobart Hurricanes
5/177 (20 overs)
Adelaide Strikers Adelaide Oval
2018–19
Details
Melbourne Renegades
5/145 (20 overs)
Renegades won by 13 runs
Scorecard
Melbourne Stars
7/132 (20 overs)
Melbourne Renegades Docklands Stadium
2019–20
Details
Sydney Sixers
5/116 (12 overs)
Sixers won by 19 runs
Scorecard
Melbourne Stars
6/97 (12 overs)
Sydney Sixers SCG
2020–21
Details
Sydney Sixers
6/188 (20 overs)
Sixers won by 27 runs
Scorecard
Perth Scorchers
9/161 (20 overs)
Sydney Sixers SCG
Team 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
Adelaide Strikers 6th 5th 7th SF (1st) SF (1st) 6th W (2nd) 7th KO (3rd) EF (5th)
Brisbane Heat 5th W (4th) 5th 8th 6th SF (2nd) 7th 5th 7th CF (4th)
Hobart Hurricanes SF (2nd) 6th R (4th) 5th 7th 7th R (4th) SF (1st) EF (4th) 6th
Melbourne Renegades 7th SF (1st) 6th 6th 5th 5th SF (3rd) W (2nd) 8th 8th
Melbourne Stars SF (4th) SF (3rd) SF (1st) SF (3rd) R (2nd) SF (4th) 8th R (4th) R (1st) 7th
Perth Scorchers R (1st) R (2nd) W (3rd) W (2nd) SF (3rd) W (1st) SF (1st) 8th 6th R (2nd)
Sydney Sixers W (3rd) 7th SF (2nd) R (4th) 8th R (3rd) 5th SF (3rd) W (2nd) W (1st)
Sydney Thunder 8th 8th 8th 7th W (4th) 8th 6th 6th CF (5th) KO (3rd)

Notes:

  • W = Winner;
  • R = Runner-up;
  • SF = Semifinalist;
  • EF = Eliminated in “The Eliminator” Final (4th vs 5th) (from 2020);
  • KO = Knocked-out in “The Knock-Out” Final (3rd vs winner of the Eliminator) (from 2020);
  • CF = Eliminated in “The Challenger” Final (2nd vs winner of the Knock-Out) (from 2020);
  • TBD = To be Decided;
  • (1-4) = End of league games table position;

Sponsorship

Title Sponsor

  • KFC
  • Rebel (WBBL)

Associate Sponsor

  • Weet-Bix
  • Toyota
  • Wrigley Extra
  • Commonwealth Bank
  • BKT Tires
  • Woolworths
  • Dream11

Apparel Sponsor

  • Majestic Athletic (Team Apparel)
  • ’47 (Caps/Hats)

Broadcast Partners

  • Fox Cricket
  • Seven Network
  • Radio Australia (Outside Australia)
  • Macquarie Sports Radio
  • Crocmedia (1116 SEN)

Salary cap

BBL old logo used up to 2014–15 season

The salary cap was initially $1 million, and increased to $1.05 million for the third season. In February 2015, the salary cap increased to $1.3 million for the fifth season, and to $1.6 million for the sixth season.

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

Attendance

Melbourne Stars vs Hobart Hurricanes at the MCG on 6 January 2016

Average home crowds for the regular season are listed below. These figures do not include finals matches. The figures for the whole season average include the finals. Post-Christmas matches have historically been the highest attended period for the League. BBL has provided a platform to create interest in playing cricket among younger children, due to its big hitting, high scoring and entertaining nature of the game.

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 the 2015–16 season, attendance figure records 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 the top 10 most attended sports leagues in the world with respect to average crowd per match in this season.

Team Crowd average
2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
Adelaide Strikers 21,986 13,319 23,703 36,023 42,437 41,275  33,951 28,095 25,139
Brisbane Heat 17,072 15,897 23,685 24,611 29,353 34,190 32,980  22,343  23,167
Hobart Hurricanes 10,517 12,107 9,552 13,776 16,640 17,570  13,536  11,197  8,298
Melbourne Renegades 13,324 13,184 21,929 22,324 29,010 30,033  28,315  19,881  15,528
Melbourne Stars 27,424 21,451 21,813 27,698 40,986 49,578 31,628  21,541  21,447
Perth Scorchers 14,905 11,539 17,380 18,825 20,273 20,567 21,511 30,133 26,586
Sydney Sixers 20,068 13,286 19,914 23,849 27,956 30,368 24,815 17,784  15,327
Sydney Thunder 18,423 10,278 14,866 17,938 19,333 20,688  15,432  12,461  10,888
Finals 15,222 17,568 15,286 27,920 42,182 25,642 43,330 22,854 12,691
Whole season 18,021 14,883 18,778 23,590 29,443 30,114 26,531 20,552 18,353

Television

Australian television

BBL games are currently broadcast in Australia on free-to-air television by the Seven Network and subscription television by Fox Cricket. The Seven Network broadcasts 45 of 61 Matches including the Finals Series. Fox Cricket televises all 61 Matches including 16 Matches exclusively in 4K.

The rights were previously held by Network 10, who in 2013 paid $100 million for BBL rights over five years, marking the channel’s first foray in elite cricket coverage.

Network 10’s BBL coverage became 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% were 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.

Broadcast partners

Country/Countries Television Network/s
Australia Fox Cricket (2011–2013, 2018–present), Network Ten (2013–2018), Seven Network (2018–present)
New Zealand Sky Sport
Pakistan Ten Sports
South Africa SuperSport
India Sony ESPN
Sri Lanka Sony SIX
United Kingdom BT Sport
United States Willow (2018–present), NBC Sports Gold (2018–present)
Canada CBN & ATN Cricket Plus
South Africa Supersport
Papua New Guinea NBC Papua New Guinea
South-East Asia Fox Sports Asia
Central Asia SPN Sports India
Africa Kwese Sports
West Indies Sports Max, Flow Sports

Grounds

A total of seventeen grounds have been used to host BBL matches to date. Sydney Thunder moved out of ANZ Stadium after 2014–15 season and relocated to Sydney Showground Stadium for the next 10 years. From 2020, the tournament Final is played at the home ground of the team which wins ‘The Qualifier’, a finals match contested between the teams finishing 1st and 2nd in the League. The WACA Ground has hosted the final four times, more than any other venue. Manuka Oval hosted the final of 2014–15 BBL season as a neutral venue primarily because other major grounds were being prepared for the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

Optus Stadium replaced the WACA Ground as the home ground of Perth Scorchers commencing from the 2017–18 BBL semi-finals, where Perth’s home match against Hobart Hurricanes (and a doubleheader WBBL match featuring the Perth Scorchers and Sydney Thunder) became only the second public event at the new stadium.

In September 2017 the Adelaide Strikers agreed to play one home BBL and WBBL match at Traeger Park in Alice Springs over the course of the 2017–18 season. In 2018, they announced that one BBL and two WBBL matches would be held at Traeger Park for the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons. Since 2017–18, the Melbourne Renegades have played two matches per season at Kardinia Park in Geelong, Victoria and the Hobart Hurricanes play multiple games at UTAS Stadium in Launceston, Tasmania.

Panoramic view of the SCG during a Big Bash League match in 2011. It is the home ground of Sydney Sixers.

Name of the stadium Capacity City Home team
Current Grounds
Adelaide Oval 53,583 Adelaide Adelaide Strikers
Blundstone Arena 19,500 Hobart Hobart Hurricanes
Marvel Stadium 53,359 Melbourne Melbourne Renegades
Optus Stadium 60,000 Perth Perth Scorchers
Brisbane Cricket Ground 42,000 Brisbane Brisbane Heat
Melbourne Cricket Ground 100,024 Melbourne Melbourne Stars
Sydney Showground Stadium 22,000 Sydney Sydney Thunder
Sydney Cricket Ground 48,000 Sydney Sydney Sixers
Secondary Grounds
UTAS Stadium 21,000 Launceston Hobart Hurricanes
GMHBA Stadium 34,000 Geelong Melbourne Renegades
Traeger Park 10,000 Alice Springs Hobart Hurricanes
Manuka Oval 12,000 Canberra Sydney Thunder
Metricon Stadium 25,000 Gold Coast Brisbane Heat
Melbourne Stars
Ted Summerton Reserve 7,500 Moe Melbourne Stars
Coffs Harbour International Stadium 20,000 Coffs Harbour Sydney Sixers
Former Grounds
ANZ Stadium 82,000 Sydney Sydney Thunder (2011–2014)
WACA Ground 20,000 Perth Perth Scorchers (2011–2018)

Records and statistics

Chris Lynn, the leading run-scorer in BBL history

Here is a list of Big Bash League records. All records are based on statistics at espncricinfo.com. Brisbane Heat captain Chris Lynn currently holds the record of scoring most runs in the league. The record of taking most wickets in the league belongs to Ben Laughlin, who currently plays for Brisbane Heat. He has represented Hobart Hurricanes and Adelaide Strikers in the past, and has played a total of 95 BBL matches since 2011.

Batting Records
Most runs   Chris Lynn 2,790
Highest average   Brad Hodge 42.78
Highest score   Marcus Stoinis 147* vs Sydney Sixers (12 January 2020)
Highest partnership   Marcus Stoinis & Hilton Cartwright 207 vs Sydney Sixers (12 January 2020)
Most sixes   Chris Lynn 172
Bowling Records
Most wickets   Ben Laughlin 111
Lowest average   Lasith Malinga 15.00
Best strike rate   Haris Rauf 12.5
Best economy rate   Lasith Malinga 5.40
Best bowling figures   Lasith Malinga 6/7 vs Perth Scorchers (12 December 2012)
Best bowling figures by a debutant   Daniel Sams 4/14 vs Sydney Thunder (19 December 2017)
Fielding
Most dismissals (wicket-keeper)   Alex Carey 51
Most catches (fielder)   Glenn Maxwell 59
Team Records
Highest total   Sydney Thunder 232–5 (20) vs Sydney Sixers (22 January 2021)
Lowest total   Melbourne Renegades 57 (12.4) vs Melbourne Stars (3 January 2015)