Cricket Australia release Big Bash League schedule

The Australian Big Bash League (BBL) will kick start from early December this year as per the schedule released by Cricket Australia. This edition of the BBL will feature a men’s season of 43 games which is 8 games more than the previous season of 35 games.

The Women’s Big Bash League will begin on December 9^th which is 10 days before the men’s KFC Big Bash League. The first match of the tournament will feature a derby between the Sydney Thunder and Sidney Sixers. However the finals of both the tournaments will take place on the same date, that is February 4.

Each of the men’s teams will play 10 matches in this edition which are equally divided between home and away fixtures. It was decided in January that new venues will be introduced for some of the BBL matches. Launceston will host the match between the Hobart Hurricanes will host the Sydney Thunder on December 30 which will be the first confirmed venue.

Anthony Everard’s statement:

“The eight additional BBL matches for this season have been scheduled to complement the existing regular season fixture, take the BBL and WBBL to more locations, and encourage more people to give cricket a go,” said CA Executive General Manager of Events and Leagues, Anthony Everard.

“The opportunity to take matches to markets such as Launceston is particularly exciting as it represents the growing popularity of the Big Bash nationwide, and we are hopeful of extending the BBL’s footprint even further this season in partnership with the Thunder, Strikers and Renegades, who remain in discussions to take matches to new markets.” added Everard.

Nine matches of the WBBL have not been allotted venues yet and the tournament will see most of the matches being played away from the major venues in each city. The reason behind the same is that 22 matches of the WBBL are double headers with the men’s tournament.

Every BBL match will again be broadcast live and free on Network Ten and the Macquarie Radio Networkand live streaming will be available on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app via a Live Pass subscription. Network Ten will also screen 12 WBBL matches.

“Both the BBL and WBBL are firm family favourites during the summer school holidays, and with even more matches we hope fans will continue to vote with their feet, support their club, and help us surpass last year’s attendance, which exceeded one million for the second consecutive season,” said Everard. “Network Ten’s ongoing commitment to both the WBBL and BBL means fans around the country can enjoy more of the Big Bash action.”