BBL 2019-20: Fixtures, Schedule, Venue, Squads, Broadcast & Live Streaming Details

As the cricketing leagues in the eastern hemisphere are on the verge of conclusion, the southern hemisphere will join the fray to keep the carnival going. Amid an exciting ongoing Australian Test summer, the Big Bash League (BBL) is all gearing up to make its presence felt. After eight prosperous editions and the women’s tournament, the Australian T20 blockbuster for men is just around the corner. It commences with the clash between Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder at the Gabba in Brisbane from the 17th of December.

Melbourne Renegades are all set to walk out as the defending champions against their challengers Melbourne Stars, Adelaide Strikers, Perth Scorchers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes, Sydney Sixers, Sydney Thunder. The upcoming season of the BBL will feature some of the top-notch cricketers in AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn for the first time. The franchises have also opted for some young and exciting sensations like Tom Banton, Pat Brown and Tanveer Sangha.

As against the previous season, there exists a handful of changes that have been carried out. The length of the season has been reduced while the number of matches has increased from 59 to 61. While the set up of the group stage remains that of the double round-robin, the format of the knockout phase sees a change.

It witnesses the introduction of the playoff system this time around wherein the top two teams will have a second chance at making it to the playoffs if they end up on the losing side the first time. The playoff games have been labelled as The Eliminator, The Qualifier, The Knock-out, The Challenger followed by The Final.

Here’s all you need to know about the BBL 2019-20 season:

Schedule

Five-team finals series has been introduced in the BBL for the first time this season. According to the new format, the teams finishing fourth and fifth after the group stage will play the eliminator on January 30. The very next day, the top two teams will face-off in the qualifier.

The winner of the Eliminator will take on the third-placed side on February 1 which is labelled as ‘The Knock-Out’. The winner of this clash will play against the loser of the Qualifier, ‘The Challenger’, to play in the final which is scheduled on February 6.

Squads:

Adelaide Strikers:

Wes Agar, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Travis Head (C), Jake Lehmann, Michael Neser, Harry Nielsen, Liam’ O Connor, Rashid Khan, Phil Salt, Matthew Short, Peter Siddle, Billy Stanlake, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Jonathan Wells, Cameron White, Nick Winter.

Brisbane Heat:

Tom Banton, Max Bryant, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, AB de Villiers, Cameron Gannon, Sam Heazlett, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Lalor, Ben Laughlin, Chris Lynn (C), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, James Pattinson, Jimmy Pierson, Jack Prestwidge, Matt Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Zahir Khan, Matthew Willans.

Hobart Hurricanes:

George Bailey, Scott Boland, Jake Doran, Nathan Ellis, James Faulkner, Jarrod Freeman, Caleb Jewell, Ben Mcdermott, Riley Meredith, Simon Milenko, David Miller, David Moody, Qais Ahmed, Thomas Rogers, Clive Rose, D’arcy Short, Matthew Wade (C), Aaron Summers.

Melbourne Renegades:

Aaron Finch (C), Cameron Boyce, Daniel Christian, Tom Cooper, Zak Evans, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Richard Gleeson, Harry Gurney, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Jon Holland, Shaun Marsh, Joe Mennie, Mohammad Nabi, Kane Richardson, Will Sutherland, Beau Webster, Jack Wildermuth.

Melbourne Stars:

Pat Brown, Hilton Cartwright, Jackson Coleman, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Dunk, Seb Gotch, Peter Handscomb, Clint Hinchliffe, Sandeep Lamichhane, Nick Larkin, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell (C), Jonathan Merlo, Lance Morris, Tom’O Conell, Dale Steyn, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Worrall, Adam Zampa.

Perth Scorchers:

Mitchell Marsh (C), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Fawad Ahmed, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Chris Jordan, Matthew Kelly, Liam Livingstone, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman.

Sydney Sixers:

Sean Abbott, Justin Avendano, Jackson Bird, Tom Curran, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Daniel Fallins, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques (C), Daniel Hughes, Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe, Josh Philippe, Lloyd Pope, Jordan Silk, Steven Smith, James Vince.

Sydney Thunder:

Jonathan Cook, Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Callum Ferguson (C), Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, Jay Lenton, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Morris, Arjun Nair, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain.

Note: Some of the teams’ captains won’t be available for the first few matches due to international commitments. In that case, the club will appoint a stand-in captain which might be announced their respective opening games.

Broadcast details (TV):

TV – Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD

Live Streaming – Sony LIV