Big Bash League

A design contest was held in 2011 to determine the design of the Big Bash League trophy. The competition was restricted to Australian designers, with the final design, chosen by the public from a field of three, revealed on 13 December 2011.[2][3]

Perth Scorchers taking on Hobart Hurricanes at the WACA in 2011

It had been proposed that the tournament would undergo expansion into more regional areas not supported by international cricket. The expansion was originally planned to be implemented in 2012. The proposed teams included: Newcastle, Canberra, Geelong, and Gold Coast. A New Zealand-based team was also mentioned as a possibility which would be based at Auckland or Christchurch, but this is unlikely to happen.[4][5] The expansion proposal was suspended, mainly because the proposed cities lacked the proper cricket hosting facilities.[6][7]

Shane Warne bowling against Sydney Sixers in 2011 at the SCG

In 2015, former Black Caps captain and Melbourne Stars coach Stephen Fleming suggested the expansion of the tournament to include New Zealand teams and become a trans-Tasman competition. He said an expansion into New Zealand would be widely supported by locals.[8] His views were also supported by Brisbane Heat coach and former Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori.[9] Melbourne Renegades chief executive Stuart Coventry also stated that he wants Cricket Australia to grant each club a fifth home fixture next season. Coventry said the BBL was ready to expand from 8 to 10 games, and adding matches would further establish the franchises.[10]

In 2016, Anthony Everard, head of the BBL, flagged the league's intentions to approach expansion through a soft launch. He stated the short to medium term goal was to schedule BBL games involving existing franchises in regional markets before potentially adding new teams after the 2017–18 season when the broadcast deal expired. He also indicated the regional markets of Canberra, Geelong, Launceston, Gold Coast, and Alice Springs will likely host games during the soft launch period.[11] On 27 January 2017, Everard announced an extra eight matches would be added to the 2017–18 season and implored each existing franchise to look at new markets when considering where the extra games would be played,[12] although the lengthened season was not implemented until 2018–19.

In 2018, it was reported that the Gold Coast Suns were interested in securing a Big Bash League franchise if the competition was expanded.[13]

Former women's Test captain and Head of Brisbane's Centre of Excellence, Belinda Clark, revealed on 19 January 2014 that planning for a women's BBL was in its early stages but could become a reality very soon. She stated that the proposal was being considered due to the huge rise in television ratings during the 2013–14 season, and the rise in women's cricket popularity.[14]

On 19 February 2015, Cricket Australia announced that a Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) would commence in the 2015–16 season, with teams aligned to the men's competition. It was announced that the teams would share the names and colours of the existing men's BBL teams, meaning that there would be two teams from Sydney and Melbourne and one team from Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, and Perth.[15]

The inaugural Women's Big Bash League was won by the Sydney Thunder against the Sydney Sixers by 3 wickets. The current champion from the 2022–23 Women's Big Bash League season is Adelaide Strikers who won their maiden WBBL title by defeating Sydney Thunder by 10 runs.

In December 2015, Cricket Australia revealed that they are looking into the possibility of hosting a Christmas Day BBL match in the coming years, possibly after the next season. If the proposal is passed, it would have been a first in the history of Australian sport since no professional matches had played in Australia on Christmas Day at that time. "It is something we have just recently started discussing, the possibilities of that. We're talking about playing a Christmas Eve match, we already play Boxing Day," CA's Executive GM (Operations) Mike McKenna said.[16] This has not yet occurred, but in September 2018, it was reported that Cricket Australia had struck a deal with the Players Association to play BBL matches on Christmas Day.[17][18]

Throughout the history of the tournament rivalries have been formed by competition between teams and by teams being in the same city.

The Sydney Smash is a game between the Sydney based teams, the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder. This rivalry was started in the inaugural season due to both teams being from Sydney and being made up of New South Wales cricket team players. The Sixers have won 16 times to the Thunder's 7 but the game still attracts a large crowd for every game.

The Melbourne Derby takes place between the two Melbourne based teams, the Melbourne Renegades and the Melbourne Stars. This derby is similar in nature to the Sydney Smash as the cores of both teams come from the Victoria cricket team and has been happening since the inaugural season of the competition. In BBL05 the game drew the largest crowd for a Big Bash game with 80,883 fans attending the game at the MCG.[29]

The Scorchers/Sixers rivalry has developed over the competition's 12 seasons due to their unparalleled success. The Scorchers have won the title five times and Sixers have claimed the trophy three times. No other team has been champions more than once. The Scorchers and the Sixers have both been runners up three times. They've met in the final on five occasions. The Scorchers have won three of those encounters and the Sixers two.[30]

Notes:

• W = Winner;
• RU = Runner-up;
• SF = Semifinalist;
• CF = Eliminated in the "Challenger" Final (loser of the Qualifier vs winner of the Knock-Out) (from 2020);
• KO = Knocked-out in the "Knock-Out" Final (3rd vs winner of the Eliminator) (from 2020);
• EF = Eliminated in the "Eliminator" Final (4th vs 5th) (from 2020);
• (1st–8th) = End of league games table position;

The wooden spoon in Big Bash League is an imaginary and ironic "award" which is said to be won by the team finishing in last place in the Big Bash League.[39][40]

Melbourne Stars vs Hobart Hurricanes at the MCG on 6 January 2016

Average home crowds for the regular season are listed below. These figures do not include finals matches. The figures for the whole season average include the finals.[44][45] Post-Christmas matches have historically been the highest attended period for the League.[46] BBL has provided a platform to create interest in playing cricket among younger children, due to its big hitting, high scoring and entertaining nature of the game.[47]

The 2014–15 season saw record domestic cricket crowds in the states of South Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania and the ACT, including a record attendance of 52,633 at the Adelaide Strikers' home semi-final, which was then the biggest ever crowd at the redeveloped Adelaide Oval.[46]

In the 2015–16 season, attendance figure records continued to be broken across all the venues. Perth Scorchers became the first ever BBL team to sell out all of its home matches in a season.[48] On 2 January 2016, the BBL single match attendance record was surpassed, with a crowd of 80,883 watching the first of two Melbourne derbies between the Melbourne Stars and the Melbourne Renegades at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Big Bash League also entered the top 10 most attended sports leagues in the world with respect to average crowd per match in this season.[49]

^COVID-19 affected season

*Season still in progress

**Played one home game during the season due to COVID-19

BBL games are currently broadcast in Australia on free-to-air television by the Seven Network and subscription television by Fox Cricket. The Seven Network broadcasts 45 of 61 Matches including the Finals Series. Fox Cricket televises all 61 Matches including 16 Matches exclusively in 4K.[61]

The rights were previously held by Network 10, who in 2013 paid $100 million for BBL rights over five years, marking the channel's first foray in elite cricket coverage.[62]

Network 10's BBL coverage became a regular feature of Australian summers and attracted an average audience of more than 943,000 people nationally in 2014–15 season, including a peak audience of 1.9 million viewers for the final between the Scorchers and Sixers.[63]

The 2015–16 season attracted an average audience of 1.13 million for each match in Australia this season, an 18% increase over the previous season. A cumulative audience of 9.65 million watched the matches in Australia, out of which 39% were women.[64][65] The opening Sydney Derby match of the season attracted a peak audience of 1.53 million.[66] The last group match between Renegades and Strikers in Session 2 was watched by an average audience of 1.36 million, which peaked at 1.67 million.[67] The BBL Final was watched by an average audience of 1.79 million, which peaked at 2.24 million viewers. This was the first time that the ratings for a BBL match crossed the 2 million mark.[68] The KFC BBL|10 Final reached 2.5 million viewers on Seven and 669,000 on Foxtel, capping an extraordinary season in which as players, officials, staff and broadcast partners successfully navigated through the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.[69]