The 12th edition of the WBBL will see more matches in home cities and in prime time
A trio of Big Bash clubs will play an extra game in front of their home fans this summer as the league moves towards fewer neutral venues in Weber WBBL|12.
Cricket Australia today unveiled the 43-game, 38-day schedule for WBBL|12, which will begin with a double-header in Melbourne on Thursday, October 29, and culminate with the final on Saturday, December 5.
View the full schedule here
The league’s two Melbourne clubs, Stars and Renegades, along with Sydney Thunder, have each been awarded an additional game in their home city this season with only four neutral matches in total for the entire tournament – down from seven in WBBL|11.
This has largely been made possible by the new floodlights at Junction Oval that allows the Stars and Renegades to play night matches at home from this season.
Key points
– 43-game season runs from October 29 to December 5
– Junction Oval to host first WBBL game under lights on opening day double-header
– Home matches across every state in opening week
– New marquee matches on Halloween (Strikers v Stars at Karen Rolton Oval, followed by Scorchers v Renegades at WACA Ground)
– More matches in prime time (25 – up from 22 last season)
– Strikers to play at Adelaide Oval for a fourth year
As revealed on Wednesday, the season will kick off with a double-header at the St Kilda venue with the ‘Gades taking on Sydney Thunder in the afternoon before the Stars face reigning champions Hobart Hurricanes under lights – one of at least six nighttime fixtures at Junction Oval in WBBL|12.
Seven teams will play home games across the tournament’s first weekend, with the Hurricanes returning to Ninja Stadium for the first time since they won their maiden WBBL title there last year on Wednesday, November 4 when they host the Renegades.
The Strikers will again play at Adelaide Oval in prime time this season, taking on the Renegades on Friday, November 20, while the Stars will also host beaten WBBL|11 finalists Perth Scorchers at Junction Oval the night before the Melbourne Cup Day holiday on November 2.
Junction Oval will also host both Melbourne derbies this season, the first under lights on November 22 and the second on Saturday afternoon, November 28 – both which will see the Melbourne Mace up for grabs in the WBBL for the first time. The two Sydney Smash blockbusters will be at North Sydney Oval (Sunday, November 8) and in prime time at Drummoyne Oval on November 28.
All four Melbourne and Sydney derbies will take centre stage on days that are free of international cricket.
“With more games played across Thursday to Sunday as well as an increase in afternoon and evening timeslots, we can’t wait to see our fans in iconic WBBL venues around the country enjoying the very best of the Big Bash,” said Alistair Dobson, CA’s general manager of Big Bash Leagues.
“We’re up to more than 55 per cent of matches in prime time. We had great growth in our TV audiences last year and that’s underpinned by prime time WBBL, so there’s more of that than ever before.
“This year again we’ve focused on trying to get each club into their home market more often, particularly in that first week. That’s not always been the case in WBBL with some neutral games.”
The regular season will conclude with a double-header in Adelaide on November 29 with the Heat taking on the Scorchers before the Strikers face the Hurricanes at Karen Rolton Oval.
A three-game final series – a structure which differs from the KFC BBL – follows the home-and-away campaign, beginning Tuesday, December 1 with the Knockout between the sides finishing third and fourth – to be hosted by the third-ranked side.
The winner of that game will then travel to play the second-ranked qualifier in the Challenger on Thursday, December 3 for a spot in the Final.
The team that finishes on top of the standings at the end of the regular season will host the Final on Saturday, December 5.
Every WBBL|12 match will be shown on Kayo Sports and Foxtel, including 20 matches exclusive to Fox Cricket, while 20 regular season matches and every final will be shown live and free on Seven and 7plus.
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.
