Cricket Australia, on Monday (July 31), announced the schedule for the upcoming edition of the Big Bash League (BBL) and the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).
The WBBL will kick start the season from December 9 while the seventh edition of the BBL, which will have 43 games this season, will start ten days later on December 19 with Sydney Thunder hosting Sydney Sixers. The new season will have more eight games for the men’s edition.
The #BBL07 fixture is here! Sync the schedule to your calendar here: https://t.co/iYiBFfd4mQ pic.twitter.com/88QwNDahkm
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) July 31, 2017
The upcoming edition of the men’s tournament will see each team playing 10 matches – five each at home and away – which means an extra game at both the venues compared to the previous edition. There will be also some games at neutral venues with Hobart Hurricanes taking on Sydney Thunder in Launceston on December 30 in the first confirmed match away from a traditional venue.
Moreover, the venue for three games is yet to be confirmed which raises the chances of seeing more games at neutral venues.
“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,” he added.
Similarly, the venues of as many as nine games are yet to be confirmed in the WBBL and like in the last two seasons, many of the games will be played away from the main venues.
“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.
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