Big Bash League 2022/23: BBL teams, players, fixture and how to watch for free
After two Covid-compromised years, the KFC Big Bash League is back to deliver a daily dose of T20 action for cricket fans. Hot on the heels of last month’s T20 World Cup here in Australia, it’s sure to be a sensational season of soaring sixes and trick shots. KFC bucket hats on stand-by.
Here’s all the info you need to know about the new Big Bash League season.
When does the BBL 2022/23 start and end?
The 12th T20 season of the Big Bash League kicks off on Tuesday December 13 when the Sydney Thunder play Melbourne Stars at Canberra’s Manuka Oval. The regular season features 56 matches played around the country, with a game (often two) played every day, except for Christmas Day. The playoffs and final will run from Friday January 27 to Saturday February 4.
See the full BBL fixture below for full games and venues.
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Which teams are playing in BBL 2022/23?
Eight BBL teams are back in action this season, with a mix of local and international players hitting the field. The teams are the Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers.
How to watch BBL on TV and streaming services
Free-to-air
Channel 7 and sister channel 7mate will be showing 40 of the 56 games, plus the finals. Sadly 7’s streaming service 7plus won’t be showing the BBL so if you want all the games, you’ll need to consider forking out for a Foxtel-affiliated streaming platform.
Streaming options
Kayo Sports will be screening every game live and on demand (just not in 4K). New subscribers can enjoy a free 7-day trial and monthly subscriptions start from $25 for one device, and you can cancel anytime.
Alternatively, you can stream the BBL on the Foxtel Now app which features 4K options. It’s more expensive than Kayo, with the Sport pack plus the mandatory Essential pack totalling $54 a month, but you do get access to plenty of other non-sporting channels too. New watchers can score a 10-day free trial too.
Otherwise, Foxtel iQ set-top subscribers can also stream every game in 4K quality. That will set you back $59 a month on a 12-month plan during their Christmas sale (or $74 normally).
Who won last season’s BBL 2021/22 competition?
The Perth Scorchers trounced arch rivals and defending champions Sydney Sixers by an impressive 79 runs last January. The Scorchers and Sixers’ rivalry burns red hot - they’ve met five times in a BBL final, with Perth winning out 3-2 to date. No doubt the Sixers will be hungry for revenge this season.
Which team is the favourite to win the 2022-23 season?
Despite losing last season's final, the Sydney Sixers currently lead Sportsbet's odds to take out the title at 4.50/1 (at the time of writing). Hobart Hurricanes trail closely behind at 4.75/1 while last year's champs Perth sit in third spot at 5.50/1.
Meanwhile, last year's biggest losers Melbourne Renegades are tipped to take home the wooden spoon again at 12/1.
Which team has won the most BBL titles?
The Scorchers’ dominant win last season established them as the most successful team in the BBL’s 12 years with four title wins to their name. The Sixers have three. Four teams - Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Renegades - have won overall once, while the Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars are yet to take home the trophy.
New rule changes this season
Cricket fans can expect some interesting rule additions and reversions this season. The biggest perhaps is the $2 million introduction of the Decision Review System (DRS) so teams can challenge umpires’ decisions, as they do in other competitions.
The contentious Bash Boost point rule - where the team with the most runs at 10 overs scored an extra competition point - has been dropped, as has the equally debated X-Factor substitution, which allowed teams to sub in a new player after the 10th over in the first innings.
This season the BBL has also introduced an innings clock with the fielding team required to start the last over inside 79 minutes. If they don’t, they have to field with only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle for the remaining overs.
Full Big Bash team squads
Adelaide Strikers
Wes Agar, Cameron Boyce, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Ryan Gibson, Colin de Grandhomme (NZ), Travis Head, Adam Hose (England), Henry Hunt, Thomas Kelly, Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Chris Lynn, Harry Nielsen, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Henry Thorton, Jake Weatherald.
Brisbane Heat
Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Sam Billings (England), Max Bryant, Sam Heazlett, Spencer Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Colin Munro (New Zealand), Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Will Prestwidge, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Ross Whiteley (England), Jack Wildermuth, Josh Brown, Sam Hain (England).
Hobart Hurricanes
Asif Ali (Pakistan), Tim David, Paddy Dooley, Nathan Ellis, Caleb Jewell, Shadab Khan (Pakistan), Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Joel Paris, Wil Parker, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Chris Tremain, Matthew Wade, Mac Wright, Jimmy Neesham (New Zealand). Replacement player: Zak Crawley (England).
Melbourne Renegades
Zak Evans, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Akeal Hosein (West Indies), Nic Maddinson, Shaun Marsh, Jack Prestwidge, Kane Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Tom Rogers, Will Sutherland, Mujeeb ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Jon Wells, Ruwantha Kellapotha (Sri Lanka), Andre Russell (West Indies), Martin Guptill (New Zealand).
Melbourne Stars
Trent Boult (NZ), Joe Burns, Hilton Cartwright, Joe Clarke (England), Brody Couch, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sam Elliott, Liam Hatcher, Clint Hinchliffe, Campbell Kellaway, Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron McClure, Tom O’Connell, Marcus Stoinis, Beau Webster, Luke Wood (England), Adam Zampa.
Perth Scorchers
Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Peter Hatzoglou, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Tymal Mills (England), Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye. Replacement player: Faf du Plessis (South Africa).
Sydney Sixers
Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Dan Christian, Ben Dwarshuis, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Chris Jordan (England), Hayden Kerr, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Izharrulhaq Naveed (Afghanistan), Steve O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, Steve Smith, James Vince (England).
Sydney Thunder
Ben Cutting, Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales (England), Baxter Holt, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Rilee Rossouw (South Africa), Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner, Sam Whiteman. Replacement players: Fazalhaq Farooqi (Afghanistan), Usman Qadir (Pakistan)
Full Big Bash League fixture
Here is the full BBL draw for season 2022-23 - see the official site for ticket sellers.
Tue Dec 13: Thunder vs Stars @ Manuka Oval ACT 7:15pm
Wed Dec 14: Strikers vs Sixers @ Adelaide Oval 7:15pm
Thur Dec 15: Heat vs Renegades @ Cazalys Stadium 7:15pm
Fri Dec 16: Stars vs Hurricanes @ MCG 5:05pm
Fri Dec 16: Thunder vs Strikers @ Sydney Showground 8:15pm
Sat Dec 17: Scorchers vs Sixers @ Optus Stadium 7:05pm
Sun Dec 18: Renegades vs Thunder @ Marvel Stadium 7:15pm
Mon Dec 19: Hurricanes vs Scorchers @ Uni of Tas Stadium 7:15pm
Tue Dec 20: Strikers vs Thunder @ Adelaide Oval 7:15pm
Wed Dec 21: Renegades vs Heat @ GMHBA Stadium 7:15pm
Thur Dec 22: Sixers vs Hurricanes @ SCG 7:15pm
Fri Dec 23: Stars vs Scorchers @ CitPower Centre 3:30pm
Fri Dec 23: Heat vs Strikers @ Gabba 7:00pm
Sat Dec 24: Hurricanes vs Renegades @ Blundstone Arena 3:30pm
Mon Dec 26: Sixers vs Stars @ SCG 6pm
Mon Dec 26: Scorchers vs Strikers @ Optus Stadium 9:15pm
Tue Dec 27: Thunder vs Heat @ Sydney Showground 7:15pm
Wed Dec 28: Sixers vs Renegades @ SCG 7:15pm
Thur Dec 29: Heat vs Thunder @ Metricon 6:05pm
Thur Dec 29: Scorchers vs Stars @ Optus Stadium 9:15pm
Fri Dec 30: Renegades vs Sixers @ GHMBA Stadium 6:30pm
Sat Dec 31: Thunder vs Hurricanes @ Lavington Sports Ground 3:30pm
Sat Dec 31: Strikers vs Stars @ Adelaide Oval 7:00pm
Sun Jan 1: Renegades vs Scorchers @ Marvel Stadium, Melbourne 1:40pm
Sun Jan 1: Heat vs Sixers @ Gabba 7:15pm
Mon Jan 2: Hurricanes vs Strikers @ Blundstone Arena 7:15pm
Tue Jan 3: Stars vs Renegades @ MCG 7:15pm
Wed Jan 4: Sixers vs Heat @ North Sydney Oval 6pm
Wed Jan 4: Scorchers vs Thunder @ Optus Stadium 9:15pm
Thur Jan 5: Strikers vs Hurricanes @ Adelaide Oval 7:15pm
Fri Jan 6: Stars vs Sixers @ Adelaide Oval 6:30pm
Sat Jan 7: Renegades vs Hurricanes @ Marvel Stadium 6:05pm
Sat Jan 7: Scorchers vs Heat @ Optus Stadium 9:15pm
Sun Jan 8: Thunder vs Sixers @ Sydney Showground 7:15pm
Mon Jan 9: Hurricanes vs Stars @ Blundstone Arena 7:15pm
Tue Jan 10: Strikers vs Renegades @ Adelaide Oval 7:40pm
Wed Jan 11: Heat vs Scorchers @ Gabba 7:40pm
Thur Jan 12: Stars vs Strikers @ MCG 7:15pm
Fri Jan 13: Thunder vs Scorchers @ Sydney Showground 6:30pm
Sat Jan 14: Strikers vs Heat @ Adelaide Oval 4:00pm
Sat Jan 14: Renegades vs Stars @ Marvel Stadium 7:30pm
Sun Jan 15: Hurricanes vs Thunder @ Blundstone Arena 1:40pm
Sun Jan 15: Sixers vs Scorchers @ SCG 7:15pm
Mon Jan 16: Stars vs Heat @ MCG 7:15pm
Tue Jan 17: Sixers vs Strikers @ Coffs Harbour 7:15pm
Wed Jan 18: Scorchers vs Hurricanes @ Optus Stadium 7:40pm
Thur Jan 19: Thunder vs Renegades @ Manuka Oval 7:15pm
Fri Jan 20: Strikers vs Scorchers @ Adelaide Oval 4:30pm
Fri Jan 20: Heat vs Hurricanes @ Gabba 8:00pm
Sat Jan 21: Sixers vs Thunder @ SCG 7:05pm
Sun Jan 22: Heat vs Stars @ Gabba 1:40pm
Sun Jan 22: Scorchers vs Renegades @ Optus Stadium 7:15pm
Mon Jan 23: Hurricanes vs Sixers @ Blundstone Arena 7:15pm
Tue Jan 24: Renegades vs Strikers @ Marvel Stadium 7:15pm
Wed Jan 25: Hurricanes vs Heat @ Uni of Tas Stadium 1:40pm
Wed Jan 25: Stars vs Thunder @ MCG 7:15pm
BBL Finals (teams and venues TBC)
Fri Jan 27: The Eliminator (4th vs 5th)
Sat Jan 28: The Qualifier (1st vs 2nd)
Sun Jan 29: The Challenger ( 3rd v Eliminator winner)
Thur Feb 2: The Knockout (Qualifier loser v Knockout winner)
Sat Feb 4: The Final (Qualifier winner v Challenger winner)
Who's scored the most runs in a BBL innings?
Melbourne Stars captain Glenn Maxwell belted an extraordinary 154 not out off just 64 balls (that's 2.4 runs a ball) last season. His herculean effort saw the Stars score the highest BBL innings to date with 2/273 against the Hobart Hurricanes.
Overall, Brisbane Heat big gun Chris Lynn (now playing for Adelaide) has scored the most runs with 3005 from 100 innings. He's also the highest six-hitter in the comp with a staggering 180 to his name.
Who's taken the most wickets in a BBL innings?
In 2012, Sri Lankan superstar Lasith Malinga playing for the Melbourne Stars took a miraculous 6 wickets for 7 runs against the Perth Scorchers - a record that still stands tall to this day. Last season Adelaide Striker Rashid Khan got close(-ish) with 6 wickets off 17 runs but Malinga's feat still remains the one to beat.
In terms of most BBL wickets ever, Sydney Sixer Sean Abbott has taken 125 wickets in 94 matches across 12 years.
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