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Big Bash League

Countries	Australia
Administrator	Cricket Australia
Format	Twenty20
First edition	2011–12
Latest edition	2024–25
Next edition	2025–26
Tournament format	Double round-robin andKnockout finals
Number of teams	8
Current champion	Hobart Hurricanes (1st title)
Most successful	Perth Scorchers (5 titles)
Most runs	Chris Lynn (3955)
Most wickets	Sean Abbott (175)
TV	Seven Network Fox Cricket
Website	bigbash.com.au

TheBig Bash League (BBL), also known as theKFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, is a professionalTwenty20 cricket league inAustralia. Established in 2011 byCricket Australia, the Big Bash League replaced the previous competition, theKFC 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 was in 2016/17 one of the two T20 cricket leagues, alongside theIndian Premier League, to feature amongst thetop ten domestic sport leagues in average attendance. The winner ofBBL 14 (2024/2025) was theHobart Hurricanes, who beat theSydney Thunder by 7 wickets in the final.

BBL matches are played in Australia during the summer, from December to February.

ThePerth Scorchers are the most successful team in the league's short history, having won the title five times including consecutively for two years twice. TheSydney Sixers have won the title three times, including consecutively for two years. The remaining teams that have won the title are theBrisbane Heat, with two titles, and theSydney Thunder,Adelaide Strikers,Melbourne Renegades, andHobart Hurricanes with one title each. Out of the eight teams in the tournament, only theMelbourne Stars have not won the title.

The KFC Twenty20 Big Bash was an Australian domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament.

Running over six seasons from2005–06 to2010–11, the Twenty20 Big Bash was the first top level domestic Twenty20 competition in Australia, contested by the six traditionalSheffield Shield state cricket teams.

TheVictorian Bushrangers were the most successful team during the tournament's running, winning four out of the six titles.

The competition was replaced by the franchise-based Big Bash League from 2011–12.

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.^[1][2]

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, andGold Coast. A New Zealand-based team was also mentioned as a possibility which would be based atAuckland orChristchurch, but this is unlikely to happen.^[3][4] The expansion proposal was suspended, mainly because the proposed cities lacked the proper cricket hosting facilities.^[5][6]

In 2015, formerBlack Caps captain andMelbourne Stars coachStephen 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.^[7] His views were also supported byBrisbane Heat coach and formerBlack Caps captainDaniel Vettori.^[8]Melbourne Renegades chief executive Stuart Coventry also stated that he wantsCricket 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.^[9]

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 ofCanberra,Geelong,Launceston,Coffs Harbour,Albury,Moe,Cairns,Gold Coast, andAlice Springs will likely host games during the soft launch period.^[10] 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,^[11] although the lengthened season was not implemented until 2018–19.

In 2018, it was reported that theGold Coast Suns were interested in securing a Big Bash League franchise if the competition was expanded.^[12]

Cricket ACT has campaigned for an expansion team in both the men's and women's competition. In October 2024,Australian Capital TerritoryChief MinisterAndrew Barr announced as part of campaigning for the2024 Australian Capital Territory election, that theACT Government would provide funding for an expansion team in both the mens and women's competition in partnership with Cricket ACT, if the territory was granted a team. The proposed team would be based atManuka Oval in Canberra.^[13][14]

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'sBBL 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 inwomen's cricket popularity.^[15]

On 19 February 2015,Cricket Australia announced that aWomen's Big Bash League (WBBL) would commence in the2015–16 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 fromSydney andMelbourne and one team fromAdelaide,Brisbane,Hobart, andPerth.^[16]

The inauguralWomen's Big Bash League was won by theSydney Thunder against theSydney Sixers by 3 wickets. The current champion from the2022–23 Women's Big Bash League season isAdelaide Strikers who won their maiden WBBL title by defeatingSydney Thunder by 10 runs.^{[citation needed]}

In December 2015,Cricket Australia revealed that they are looking into the possibility of hosting aChristmas Day BBL match in the coming years, possibly after the next season. If the proposal is passed, it would have been a first in the history of Australian sport since no professional matches had played in Australia onChristmas Day at that time. "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.^[17] This has not yet occurred, but in September 2018, it was reported thatCricket Australia had struck a deal with theAustralian Cricketers' Association to play BBL matches on Christmas Day.^[18][19]

Since the inception of the BBL in 2011, the tournament format has changed a number of times.

Thefirst BBL season had 28 group stage matches, before expanding to 32 in the following season.^[10]

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 2derbies within a single season.^[20] Each team played eight group stage matches, four at home and four away, before the top four ranked teams progressed to the semi-finals.^[20] 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.^[21] 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.^[22]

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

The2023-24 season was shortened, with each team played ten regular season matches, playing three teams twice, and four teams once; for a total of 40 regular season games and 4 finals. This was in response to concerns that the 61 game season was too long.^[23]

The final of the tournament is played at the home ground of the higher-ranked team. The only exception to this rule was2014–15 season when the final was played at a neutral venue (Manuka Oval), due to the2015 Cricket World Cup.^[24][25]

In the 2018–19 season, the league introduced a 'bat flip' (instead of a coin toss) to decide who would bat/bowl first.^[26]

Up to the 2018–19 season the top four teams contested the finals, which consisted of two semi-finals and a final.

The finals structure was changed in the 2019–20 season to include a fifth team, and a "double chance" for the top two teams. The structure was a hybrid version of thePage–McIntyre final four system with the addition of 'The Eliminator' being the difference between the original and hybrid versions.:

• Eliminator – Fourth v Fifth
• Qualifier – First v Second
• Knock-Out – Third v Winner of the Eliminator
• Challenger – Loser of the Qualifier v Winner of the Knock-Out
• Final – Winner of the Qualifier v Winner of the Challenger

The BBL reverted to the top four reaching the playoff stage from the 2023–24 season, but retained the double chance for the top two teams:

• Qualifier – First v Second
• Knockout – Third v Fourth
• Challenger – Loser of the Qualifier v Winner of the Knock-Out
• Final – Winner of the Qualifier v Winner of the Challenger

Before 2014, the top two teams in the tournament used to qualify for theChampions League Twenty20 tournament, which was an annual international Twenty20 competition played between the top domestic teams from various nations. The Champions League Twenty20 became defunct after its 2014 tournament.^[27]

Scorchers

Strikers

Heat

Hurricanes

Stars

Renegades

Sixers

Thunder

class=notpageimage|

Location of Big Bash League teams

The competition features eight city-based franchises, instead of thesix state-based teams which had previously competed in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. Each state's capital city features one team, withSydney andMelbourne featuring two. The team names and colours for all teams were officially announced on 6 April 2011.^[28] 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.^[29] TheScorchers andSixers have also developed a rivalry between them over the years and their matches attract good crowds and TV ratings.^[30]

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 to 2021 edition. Each team can also have a maximum of two overseas replacement players, in case the original overseas players get injured or withdraw.^[31]

Throughout the history of the tournament rivalries have been formed by competition between teams and by teams being in the same city.

The Sydney Smash is a game between the Sydney based teams, the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder. This rivalry was started in the inaugural season due to both teams being from Sydney and being made up ofNew South Wales cricket team players. The Sixers have won 16 times to the Thunder's 7 but the game still attracts a large crowd for every game.^{[citation needed]}

The Melbourne Derby takes place between the two Melbourne based teams, the Melbourne Renegades and the Melbourne Stars. This derby is similar in nature to the Sydney Smash as the cores of both teams come from theVictoria cricket team and has been happening since the inaugural season of the competition. InBBL05 the game drew the largest crowd for a Big Bash game with 80,883 fans attending the game at the MCG.^[38]

The Scorchers/Sixers rivalry has developed over the competition's 12 seasons due to their unparalleled success. The Scorchers have won the title five times and Sixers have claimed the trophy three times. The Scorchers and the Sixers have both been runners up three times. They've met in the final on five occasions. The Scorchers have won three of those encounters and the Sixers two.^[39]

Perth Scorchers have won five titles and Sydney Sixers three.^[40] Both of these teams have won the title in consecutive seasons.^[41]

The Scorchers have reached the final of the tournament eight times. Out of the eight teams in the tournament, everyone but the Melbourne Stars have won the title at least once.

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

Thewooden spoon in Big Bash League is an imaginary and ironic "award" which is said to be won by the team finishing in last place in the Big Bash League.^[42][43] The Hobart Hurricanes are currently the only team to never win the wooden spoon.

The salary cap was initially $1 million, and increased to $1.05 million for the third season.^[44] 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.^[45]

In 2023-24 the cap was at $3 million AUD, with the ability to also have 2 players paid outside the cap.^[46]

Cricket Australia increased the prize money for the BBL to a total of $890,000 for the four finalists from2015–16 season, after theChampions League Twenty20 tournament was discontinued with effect from 2015. The prize money will be split between the teams as follows:^[47]

• $20,000 – To the team finishing fifth in the season
• $80,000 – To each losing semi-finalist
• $260,000 – To theRunner up
• $450,000 – To theChampion of the season

However, the additional cash increase of $600,000 will go to successful clubs and not their players. Up to the2014–15 BBL season, a total prize money of $290,000 was awarded.^[47]

Average home crowds for the season are listed below. These figures include finals matches. The figures for the whole season average include the finals.^[48][49] Post-Christmas matches have historically been the highest attended period for the League.^[50] 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.^[51]

The2014–15 season saw record domestic cricket crowds in the states ofSouth Australia,New South Wales,Tasmania and theACT, including a record attendance of 52,633 at theAdelaide Strikers' home semi-final, which was then the biggest ever crowd at the redevelopedAdelaide Oval.^[50]

In the2015–16 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.^[52] 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 theMelbourne 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.^[53]

The Perth Scorchers have topped the lead for highest home attendance for the past 7 years, mainly due to their recent success and the state of the artPerth Stadium, which has been their home venue since 2018.

BBL games are currently broadcast in Australia on free-to-air television by theSeven Network and subscription television byFox 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.^[54]

The rights were previously held byNetwork 10, who in 2013 paid $100 million for BBL rights over five years, marking the channel's first foray in elite cricket coverage.^[55]

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.^[56]

The 2015–16 season attracted an average audience of 1.13 million for each match in Australia this season, an 18% increase over the previous season. Acumulative audience of 9.65 million watched the matches in Australia, out of which 39% were women.^[57][58] The opening Sydney Derby match of theseason attracted a peak audience of 1.53 million.^[59] The last group match between Renegades and Strikers in Season 2 was watched by an average audience of 1.36 million, which peaked at 1.67 million.^[60] 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.^[61] The KFC BBL|10 Final reached 2.5 million viewers on Seven and 669,000 on Foxtel, capping an extraordinary season in which as players, officials, staff and broadcast partners successfully navigated through the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[62]

A total of 17 grounds have been used to host BBL matches to date.Sydney Thunder moved out ofANZ Stadium after the2014–15 season and relocated toSydney Showground Stadium for the next 10 years. From 2020, the tournament Final has been played at the home ground of the team that wins 'The Qualifier', a playoff match contested between the 2 teams finishing 1st and 2nd in the League. TheWACA Ground has hosted the final 4 times, more times than any other venue.Manuka Oval hosted the final of2014–15 BBL season as aneutral venue primarily because other major grounds were being prepared for the2015 Cricket World Cup.^[25]

Optus Stadium replaced the WACA Ground as the home ground ofPerth Scorchers starting with the2017–18 BBL semi-finals.Perth's home match againstHobart Hurricanes (and a doubleheaderWBBL match featuring thePerth Scorchers andSydney Thunder) became only the second public event at the newstadium.

In September 2017, theAdelaide Strikers agreed to play one home BBL andWBBL match atTraeger Park inAlice 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 the2018–19 and2019–20 seasons.

From2017–18 to2022-23, theMelbourne Renegades played two matches per season atKardinia Park inGeelong,Victoria and theHobart Hurricanes play multiple games atUTAS Stadium inLaunceston,Tasmania. TheMelbourne Stars would play at least one home match at a secondary venue, often theCiti Power Centre,Melbourne orManuka Oval inCanberra,ACT, orPeople First Stadium in theGold Coast. TheSydney Sixers played two games atCoffs Harbour International Stadium inCoffs Harbour,New South Wales each season, while theSydney Thunder played two home matches atManuka Oval,Canberra.

Due to a shorter tournament format being introduced for the2023-24 season and beyond, TheMelbourne Stars,Melbourne Renegades,Sydney Sixers, andSydney Thunder each reduced playing two home games at secondary venues to one match. TheMelbourne Stars play one home match at eitherLavington Sports Ground in Albury, New South Wales, orManuka Oval inCanberra,ACT. TheMelbourne Renegades play one home match atKardinia Park inGeelong,Victoria. TheSydney Sixers play one of their home matches atCoffs Harbour International Stadium inCoffs Harbour,New South Wales, while cross town rivalsSydney Thunder play one match atManuka Oval inCanberra,ACT. The main reason behind this is because they play an extra match in their home city each year when they play an "away game" against their cross town rivals. This allows fairness across the competition meaning each team plays an equal amount of games in their home city each year, while allowing the game to progress and be reached in other areas.

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

Here is a list of Big Bash League records. All records are based on statistics atespncricinfo.com.^[66] FormerBrisbane Heat player and captainChris Lynn currently holds the record of scoring most runs in the league.^[67] The record of taking most wickets in the league belongs toSean Abbott who currently plays forthe Sydney Sixers. He has represented theSydney Thunder in the past.

As of 27 January 2025

• The Big Appeal
• Women's Big Bash League
• Cricket in Australia
• List of Big Bash League centuries
• List of Men's franchise cricket leagues

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