The Big Bash League
BBL - THE BIG BASH LEAGUE
The Big Bash League (BBL) is a T20 (twenty over match) league where franchise cricket teams from most of Australia’s largest cities go head to head and bash it out. All the eight teams play hard against each other to get to the finals and win the trophy. It is among the top ten domestic sports leagues in average attendance. Since it started out in 2011 the Perth Scorchers have been the most successful winning 3 titles. Only two teams have not won any titles. The league is played during the Australian summer, during Australian cricket season from mid-December to early February. It is sponsored by KFC so while the athletes are running around the field you can stuff your face full of chicken – real healthy like. To make the BBL more interesting for year to year, each franchise can buy or sell players depending on their performance, personal preference and chemistry within the team.
Though the Scorchers are the most successful team, I support the mighty Sydney Thunder, mainly because I’m from Sydney and when I first started following the BBL I thought their kit looked the coolest, and it still is to this day. The Thunder have a great team consisting of famous cricketers such as; Usman Khawaja, Alex Hales, Callum Ferguson (c), Alex Ross, Chris Morris, Arjun Nair, Daniel Sams, Jay Lenton (wk), Chris Tremain and Chris Green. Some other famous players who used to play for the Thunder are; Shane Watson, Jos Buttler and Pat Cummins.
During the 2015-16 (bbl|05) the Sydney Thunder crushed their opponents during the finals campaign. In the semi-finals the Thunder comprehensively won over the Adelaide Strikers by 8 wickets, sending them off to the finals. In the finals the Thunder won the toss and chose to field. Their opponents the Melbourne Stars scored 176 runs for 9 wickets lost. The Thunder then fought back in their half of the innings. They comprehensively won over the Stars by 3 wickets with 3 balls remaining. Khawaja scored an awesome 70 off 40 balls. Overall throughout the years the Thunder have almost always been able to scrape into the semi-final playoffs, which consisted of two games.
For this season the semi-final and final system has been changed to be played over two weekends with a five-match finals system. This guarantees a double chance for teams that finish first and second in the regular season. The way it works is;
The Eliminator – (Fourth plays Fifth)
The Qualifier – (First plays Second)
The Knock-Out – (Third plays The Winner of The Eliminator)
The Challenger – (Loser of The Qualifier plays Winner of The Knock-Out)
The Final – (Winner of The Qualifier plays Winner of the Challenger)
The BBL is a very special time for many younger or lesser known cricketers as it is an opportunity for them to show Cricket Australia (CA) and the world their talent, leading them to possibly be chosen for national teams. Many T20 leagues like the BBL exist and do similar around the world. Like the Pakistan Super League, Caribbean Premier League, Vitality Blast and Indian Premier League.
This year (2020) the 2019-20 season is in commence. The teams which are competing are; Sydney Thunder, Sydney Sixers, Melbourne Stars, Melbourne Renegades, Perth Scorchers, Hobart Hurricanes, Brisbane Heat and Adelaide Strikers. To cut the story short the Sydney Sixers won. But not without a fight, as usual the Sydney Thunder fought their way to the finals and finished at third place. The Thunder were knocked out when the Melbourne Stars beat them by 28 runs. The Stars then went on to lose in the finals. This years’ BBL has been through ups and downs of all teams, chokes from the Stars, with new records made, and awesome wickets taken.
So if next winter you are wondering what to watch while curled up on the couch with a hot cup of cocoa go to the internet and find the best cricket streaming service to watch and be in awe of the most talented cricket players Australia has to offer.
