Bold and ambitious plan in sight for expansion of WBBL, to target bigger stadiums in future

Adelaide Strikers concluded the latest Women's Big Bash League 2022 (WBBL) season by beating Sydney Sixers in the final to lift their maiden WBBL title. Sixers won 11 of their 14 group-stage matches but Strikers' performance at the fag end of the tournament was remarkable. They beat favourites Brisbane Heat in the Challenger fixture and and finished as deserving winners.

Despite continuous growth, Alistair Dobson, the head of the Big Bash Leagues, revealed that WBBL will be focusing on the future with a bold and ambitious expansion. He mentioned that the women's league deserves bigger stadiums and they will be looking to carry out the plan for the bigger games. 

"The WBBL is definitely suited to the grounds we've played in, such as North Sydney Oval and Citipower [Junction Oval] in Melbourne, but equally the scale of the WBBL means that we need to be bold and ambitious enough to look at playing the bigger games in bigger stadiums.

While it wouldn't be on a regular basis I'd love for us to be bold enough for us to start playing some of those games in bigger stadiums because that's where it deserves to be," Alistair Dobson told ESPNcricinfo.

"It's also about the schedule and how we make sure we bring matches to each team's home market on a regular basis. This year, for example, we didn't have too many games in Melbourne until quite late, equally in Sydney, and that showed that once you start bringing matches into those markets the interest takes off," Dobson added.

A lot of cricket happening and it doesn't not require us to be mindful of that : Alistair Dobson

Women's cricket is witnessing a lot of growth with other nations also focusing to develop the circuit by introducing more leagues. The Hundred (England) and WBBL remain the best tournaments but the upcoming The Women's League (Pakistan) and the Women's IPL (India) will surely give tough competitions in the future. However, Dobson believes that WBBL will remain the best league in the world but they will be mindful of the competition.

"Our primary objective is making sure the WBBL remains the best league in the world. It's fantastic that players have such opportunity around the world, but that does mean there's [a] lot of cricket happening and it does require us to be mindful of that," Dobson added.