Today’s reveal of the Weber WBBL|12 fixture comes complete with 14 double-headers, more than half of games in evening broadcast slots and most importantly, each side’s full roadmap in their mission to secure the highly coveted championship come season’s end.
Take a look at some of the main talking points from the upcoming season, which is set to kick off with a groundbreaking double-header at Junction Oval on Thursday, October 29.
Turn on the lights!
Lights, camera, action, with emphasis on the ‘lights’. WBBL|12 will kick off in style with a Junction Oval double-header on Thursday, October 29, featuring the venue’s first ever T20 game under its newly installed light towers.
Construction on the venue’s four new floodlights, which began last November, means the competition’s two Melbourne-based sides can now host prime time matches and generate greater match-day and television attendances after previously being limited to daytime fixtures in prior seasons.
The Renegades will launch the WBBL|12 season against Sydney Thunder in the afternoon, before darkness falls and the floodlights flick on as the Stars go toe-to-toe with the competition’s reigning champions Hobart Hurricanes at 7.10pm.
The Stars and Renegades will host a combined six evening matches at Junction Oval in WBBL|12, including the former’s home derby on November 22. Sophie Molineux’s Renegades will face the Sixers and Heat on their newly illuminated home turf, while the Annabel Sutherland-skippered Stars will face the Scorchers and Sixers under lights.
It’s a (derby) double date
In what already shapes as one of the most enthralling days on the WBBL|12 calendar, both the Melbourne derby and Sydney Smash will be played in the penultimate day of the regular season on Saturday, November 28.
The Renegades and Stars will kick off the crosstown double clash at Junction Oval for the second Melbourne derby at the venue in the space of a week before the Thunder host the Sixers under lights at Drummoyne Oval.
Both the Sydney and Melbourne rivalries provided their fair share of highlights in WBBL|11. Sixteen-year-old Caiomhe Bray’s hat-trick was arguably pick of the bunch from last year’s match-ups, while new Renegade Tess Flintoff hitting the winning runs against her former side — alongside unbeaten match-winning knocks from Meg Lanning (73no) and Ellyse Perry (77no) in their respective victories later in the season — were also etched in derby folklore.
Adelaide Oval beckons for WBBL|12
After two rain-affected matches at the venue in WBBL|11 – the latter of which was contentiously abandoned with the Thunder needing just three more runs for victory over the Strikers – play will return to Adelaide Oval for a must-see clash under lights against the Renegades on Friday, November 20.
It will be the sole fixture at the 53,0000-capacity stadium in WBBL|12, with the Strikers to host three matches at Karen Rolton Oval and another at Drummoyne Oval against the Stars in the opening week of the season.
Strikers stalwarts Bridget Patterson, Tahlia McGrath and Amanda-Jade Wellington are in line to feature in their 20th WBBL appearance at Adelaide Oval come November, with the latter holding sway as the competition’s leading wicket-taker at the venue (25).
Meanwhile, the Renegades’ four attempts at Adelaide Oval have only resulted in one win, albeit never against the Strikers. Their solitary triumph came against the Stars as part of the pandemic-affected WBBL|07 campaign, courtesy of a super four-over spell of 2-10 from Sophie Molineux.
Prime time Heat out for redemption
Although making unwanted history with a winless campaign in WBBL|11, the Heat will have the chance for redemption on the prime-time stage on four separate occasions in WBBL|12.
The Heat, who will also be on the hunt for a new skipper after Jess Jonassen stepped down from the role, will host the Thunder, Sixers and Hurricanes in Thursday, Friday and Saturday night clashes at Allan Border Field respectively, with the square-off against the Sixers serving as the sequel to the previous day’s season opener at Junction Oval.
Their away fixture against the Renegades (November 25) will also be held in a prime-time slot as the Heat look to improve on WBBL|11’s last-placed finish.
Friday night lights beckon for Scorchers
For those who assert that Western Australia has no night life, the Friday night fixture between the Scorchers and Hurricanes at the WACA Ground on November 27 may change that opinion.
The Friday prime time fixture will be the second time the two finalists from last season meet in WBBL|12, with their preceding match-up a neutral encounter at Queensland’s Allan Border Field on November 19.
With Australia’s men’s T20I against England at the Gabba due to finish prior to the first ball out west, the Scorchers and Hurricanes locking horns is set to be the perfect way to conclude an action-packed day of cricket.
Can the Thunder turn their home into a fortress?
Since calling Drummoyne Oval home, the Thunder have yet to fully transform their Parramatta surrounds into a bona fide fortress.
The Thunder have won just six of the 13 matches they’ve have played in Sydney’s west, with six losses and another game abandoned. That winning percentage could be in line for a boost with Lisa Keightley’s side to play a further four matches at the venue in WBBL|12.
The Thunder will host the second Sydney Smash of the season against their crosstown rivals on November 28 where they’ll be hoping to secure their first win against the Sixers since WBBL|10.
The Thunder will also host matches at Drummoyne Oval against the Heat, Scorchers and Stars earlier in the season.
Interestingly, all four of the Thunder’s victories from last season came against the aforementioned three sides, which included two wins over the winless Heat – one on the road – and a Drummoyne Oval triumph against the Scorchers, before knocking over the Stars in a rain-affected match at Junction Oval.
Clear your weekends, ‘Canes fans
Keep your Saturdays clear if you’re a Hurricanes fan. The reigning champions will feature in consecutive Saturday home fixtures across November, first taking on the Heat at Ninja Stadium on November 14 before a morning clash with the Thunder the following week.
Those two matches shape as important wins to bank for the Hurricanes – who secured their maiden WBBL championship last season – as they eye another title tilt. In the three matches either side of their Saturday morning showdown with the Thunder on November 21, the Hurricanes will face the Scorchers at Queensland’s Allan Border Field (November 19) and WACA Ground (November 27), before closing out the season against the Strikers at Karen Rolton Oval (November 29).
Ninja Stadium will also see two matches in prime time under lights against the Renegades and Strikers on November 4 and November 10 respectively.
Sign up to the waitlist at bigbash.com.au for pre-sale tickets access for WBBL|12 from July 30 before tickets go on public sale on August 6.
