Big Bash League

Big Bash League
(BBL)

Official BBL Logo
Countries	Australia
Administrator	Cricket Australia
Format	Twenty20
First tournament	2011–12
Next tournament	2018–19
Tournament format	Round-robin and knockout finals
Number of teams	8
Current champion	Adelaide Strikers (1st title)
Most successful	Perth Scorchers (3 titles)
Most runs	Michael Klinger (1,802)[1]
Most wickets	Ben Laughlin (85)[2]
TV	Seven Network Fox Sports
Website	bigbash.com.au
2018–19

The Big Bash League (BBL, also known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons) is an Australian professional 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.

BBL matches are played in Australia during the summer in the months of December and January.

Out of the eight teams in the tournament, five have won the title at least once. The Perth Scorchers are the most successful team in the league's short history, winning the title three times including consecutively for two years and have reached the final of the tournament in five of the seven seasons. The other four teams which have won the title are Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Sixers, Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder. The current champions are the Adelaide Strikers.

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 became defunct after the 2014 tournament.^[3]

History

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 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.^[6][7] 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.^[8][9]

Shane Warne bowling against Sydney Sixers in 2011 at the SCG

In 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.^[10] His views were also supported by Brisbane Heat coach and former Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori.^[11] 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.^[12]

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.^[13] 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.^[14]

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.^[19] The first BBL season had 28 group stage matches, before expanding to 32 in the following season.^[13]

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.^[20]

In the early years of the tournament, the group stage matches were divided into eight rounds, with four matches played in each round. Each team played eight group stage matches, four at home and four away, before the top four ranked teams progressed to the semi finals. Thus, the total number of matches during the season tallied up to 35, with 32 group stage matches and three knock out matches.^[20] In BBL 07 (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.^[21] The season was held over a similar timeframe 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).^[19][22]

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.^[23] 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.^[24] The Scorchers and Sixers have also developed a rivalry between them over the years and their matches attract good crowds and TV ratings.^[25]

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.^[26]

Scorchers

Strikers

Heat

Hurricanes

Stars

Renegades

Sixers

Thunder

Location of Big Bash League teams

Tournament results

Out of the eight teams in the tournament, five have won the title at least once. The Perth Scorchers are the most successful team in the league's history, winning the title three times including consecutively for two seasons in 2013–14 and 2014–15.^[27] They are the champions of Big Bash League 2016–17, and they also hold the record for reaching the final of the tournament the most times, doing so consecutively in the first four seasons. In contrast, only two other teams have reached the final twice.^[28] The other four 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), the Sydney Thunder in 2015–16 ^[29][30] and the Adelaide Strikers in 2017-18

The WACA Ground has hosted the final on four occasions, more than any other venue. In fact, the final of the 2014–15 BBL season would have also been hosted by WACA Ground if it was awarded to the home ground of the highest-ranked team, as in previous seasons. However, Manuka Oval was awarded the rights to host the final of 2014–15 BBL season as a neutral venue.^[22]

Salary cap and contracting period

BBL old logo used up to 2014–15 season

The Big Bash League's salary cap was $1.05 million for the third season, a $50,000 increase from the two previous seasons,^[31] which were played under a salary cap of $1 million.^{[32][33][34][35][36]} In February 2015, BBL salary cap increased to $1.30 million for the fifth season of BBL.^[26]

Currently, the salary cap has increased to $1.60 million.^[37] Under the $1.60 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.^[38]

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:^[39]

• $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.^[39]

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.^[40][41] Post-Christmas matches have historically been the highest attended period for the League.^[42] 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.^[43]

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.^[42]

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.^[44] 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.^[45]

Team	Crowd average
	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18
Adelaide Strikers	21,986	13,319	23,703	36,023	42,437	41,275	[46] 33,951
Brisbane Heat	17,072	15,897	23,685	24,611	29,353	34,190	32,980
Hobart Hurricanes	10,517	12,107	9,552	13,776	16,640	17,570	[47] 13,536
Melbourne Renegades	13,324	13,184	21,929	22,324	29,010	30,033	[48] 28,315
Melbourne Stars	27,424	21,451	21,813	27,698	40,986	49,578	31,628
Perth Scorchers	14,905	11,539	17,380	18,825	20,273	20,567	21,511
Sydney Sixers	20,068	13,286	19,914	23,849	27,956	30,368	24,815
Sydney Thunder	18,423	10,278	14,866	17,938	19,333	20,688	[49] 15,432
Finals	15,222	17,568	15,286	27,920	42,182	25,642	43,330
Whole season	18,021	14,883	18,778	23,590	29,443	30,114	26,531

Notes

Television

Australian television

BBL games are currently broadcast in Australia on free-to-air television by the Seven Network and subscription television by Fox Sports. The Seven Network broadcasts 43 of 59 Matches including the Semi-Finals & Grand Final. Fox Sports televises all 59 Matches including 16 Matches exclusively. ^[50]

The rights were previously held by Network Ten, who in 2013 paid $100 million for BBL rights over five years, marking the channel's first foray in elite cricket coverage.^[51]

Network Ten'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.^[52]

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.^[53][54] The opening Sydney Derby match of the season attracted a peak audience of 1.53 million.^[55] 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.^[56] 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.^[57]

Broadcast partners

Countries	Network
Australia	Fox Sports (2011–13, 2018-present) Seven Network (2018-present) Network Ten (2013–2018)
New Zealand	Sky Sport
Bangladesh	Sony TEN2
Pakistan	PTV Sports
South Africa	SuperSport
India	STAR Sports(2011–2017) SONY ESPN (2017–2022)
Sri Lanka	Sony Six,SONY ESPN
United Kingdom	BT Sport Channel 5 (5 FTA matches in 2016–17) [58] Sky Sports (2011–16)
United States	Willow NBCSN (10 games in 2016/17)[59]
Canada	CBN & ATN Cricket Plus(2016/17–2020/21)[60]

Grounds

A total of 10 grounds have been used to host BBL matches till date. Sydney Thunder moved out of Stadium Australia after 2014–15 season and relocated to Spotless Stadium for the next 10 years. The Final of the tournament is played at the home ground of the highest-ranked team. The WACA 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.^[22]

Perth Stadium was scheduled to replace the WACA as the home ground of Perth Scorchers starting from 2018–19. However, with the Scorchers reaching the 2017–18 BBL semi-finals, Perth's 1 February 2018 home match against Hobart Hurricanes (and the doubleheader WBBL match between Perth and Sydney Thunder) became the second public event at Perth Stadium. Main reasons behind the move are poor facilities at the ground as well as low spectator capacity.^[61]

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 BBL|07. In BBL|07 The Melbourne Renegades will also play a match at Kardinia Park in Geelong, Victoria and the Hobart Hurricanes will play a match at the University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston.

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

Records and statistics

Michael Klinger, 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.^[62] Perth Scorchers captain and opening batsman Michael Klinger currently holds the record of scoring most runs in the league. He has played 41 matches in the BBL so far, starting from 2011.^[1] The record of taking most wickets in the league belongs to Ben Laughlin, who currently plays for Adelaide Strikers. He has represented Hobart Hurricanes in the past, and has played a total of 43 BBL matches since 2011.^[2]

^{Last updated on 1 May 2018}

See also

• List of Big Bash League records and statistics
• List of Big Bash League centuries
• Women's Big Bash League
• Cricket Australia
• Cricket in Australia
• Indian Premier League

References

External links

• Official website
• Schedule & Fixtures
• World Cricket Badger