BBL

BBL

All About BBL

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.

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)

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.

Tournament results

Out of the eight teams in the tournament, six have won the title at least once. The Perth Scorchers are the most successful team, winning the title three times (including back-to-back wins in 2013–14 and 2014–15). Perth have also reached the final of the tournament the most times (including consecutive appearances in the first four seasons). The Sydney Sixers have won the tournament twice, both in the inaugural season (2011–12) and the most recent season (2019–20). 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.

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.^[38] In February 2015, the salary cap increased to $1.3 million for the fifth season,^[31] and to $1.6 million for the sixth season.^[39]

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:^[40]

• $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.^[40]

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.^[45] 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.

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.^[59]

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.^[

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.

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.^[67] 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 88 BBL matches since 2011.

Batting Records
Most runs	Chris Lynn	2,332
Highest average	D'Arcy Short	46.42
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	146
Bowling Records
Most wickets	Ben Laughlin	110
Lowest average	Lasith Malinga	15.00
Best strike rate	Daniel Sams	13.5
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)	Jimmy Peirson	39
Most catches (fielder)	Glenn Maxwell	50
Team Records
Highest total	Hobart Hurricanes	223–8 (20) vs Melbourne Renegades (12 January 2017)
Lowest total	Melbourne Renegades	57 (12.4) vs Melbourne Stars (3 January 2015)