The 2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season or WBBL|04 was the fourth season of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), the semi-professional women'sTwenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament ran from 1 December 2018 to 26 January 2019.[1]
Double-defending champions, the Sydney Sixers, ended the regular season on top of the ladder, while captainEllyse Perry broke the scoring record for a sole WBBL campaign and was named Player of the Tournament.
In the two semi-finals at Drummoyne Oval on 19 January, the Brisbane Heat eliminated the Sydney Thunder before the Sydney Sixers knocked out the Melbourne Renegades. Both matches, notable for their "miracle"[2] endings, were hailed as a showcase of "the irrefutable rise of women's cricket"[3] and "sport with drama, skill and unpredictability – a potent recipe for success".[4]
In the final, also at Drummoyne Oval, the Heat caused an upset by defeating the Sixers with three wickets in hand and four balls remaining to claim their maiden title.[5] Despite suffering from the flu and heat stroke, Beth Mooney managed to play a pivotal innings of 65 runs from 46 balls and was named Player of the Final.[6]
Teams
Each squad featured 15 active players, with an allowance of up to five marquee signings including a maximum of three from overseas.[7] Under a new rule, Australian marquees were defined as players who held a national women's team contract at the time of signing on for their WBBL|04 team. This, combined with the introduction of two-year contracts ahead of the previous season, meant that the Sydney Sixers would inadvertently exceed their marquee player limit in 2018–19. To address this inequity, an injured or unavailable Sixers marquee could only be replaced by a domestic player.[8]
New Zealand marquee Katey Martin signed with the Melbourne Stars as a replacement player. Martin had performed a similar role with the Melbourne Stars in WBBL|03.[12]
Leadership
Coaching changes made ahead of the season included:
Captaincy changes made during the season included:
Erin Osborne stood in as acting captain of the Melbourne Stars for eight games, replacing Kristen Beams who was sidelined with Achilles and finger injuries.[16][17]
Elyse Villani stood in as acting captain of the Perth Scorchers for five games, replacing Meg Lanning who was sidelined with a back injury.[15]
Points table
Indian international Harmanpreet Kaur hits out for Sydney Thunder against Perth Scorchers at Lilac Hill Park, Perth, on 29 December 2018. The Scorchers' wicket-keeper, England international Amy Jones, looks on. The Scorchers later scored 4/180 to win the match by six wickets, with just one ball remaining.
The four top ranked teams qualified for the play-off phase
Win–loss table
Below is a summary of results for each team's fourteen regular season matches, plus finals where applicable, in chronological order. A team's opponent for any given match is listed above the margin of victory/defeat.
Brisbane Heat won by 21 runs Geelong Cricket Ground, Geelong Umpires: Greg Azzopardi and Daryl Brigham Player of the match: Molly Strano (Melbourne Renegades)
Brisbane Heat won by 5 wickets (with 4 balls remaining) Optus Stadium, Perth Attendance:14,983[19] Umpires: Nathan Johnstone and Trent Steenholdt Player of the match: Haidee Birkett (Brisbane Heat)
Perth Scorchers won by 10 wickets (with 20 balls remaining) Albrecht Oval, Alice Springs Umpires: Harry Singh and Craig Thomas Player of the match: Amy Jones (Perth Scorchers)
Player of the Tournament votes are awarded on a 3-2-1 basis by the two standing umpires at the conclusion of every match, meaning a player can receive a maximum of six votes per game.[26]
Players under 21 years of age at the start of the season are eligible for the Young Gun Award. Weekly winners are selected over the course of the season by a panel of Cricket Australia officials based on match performance, on-field and off-field attitude, and their demonstration of skill, tenacity and good sportsmanship. Each weekly winner receives a $500 Rebel gift card and the overall winner receives a $5000 cash prize, as well as access to a learning and mentor program.[27]
The table below shows the number of Player of the Match awards won by each player throughout the season. The career tally indicates the number of awards won by a player throughout her entire time in the league at the conclusion of the season, including awards won while previously playing for a different WBBL team.
A total of 135,861 fans attended WBBL|04—an average of 2,384 per match (excluding the two games abandoned due to rain). This included some double-headers with men's BBL matches, such as the crowd of 14,983 reported for the match between Perth and Brisbane on Boxing Day played at Optus Stadium,[19] and the crowd of 11,136 reported for the New Year's Day match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between the Stars and Renegades.[21]
A new record for the highest attendance at a standalone WBBL match was set on 5 January when the Brisbane Heat played the Adelaide Strikers at Harrup Park in front of 5,650 spectators. A total of 8,735 people attended the knockout stage of the tournament across two weekends at Drummoyne Oval, with all ticket proceeds donated to Dolly’s Dream. The final was announced as a sellout and attracted a crowd of 5,368.[19]
Below are the television ratings for every game that was broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket during the season. The semi-final super over between the Sixers and Renegades was watched by a combined average audience of 423,000 (196,000 metro; 133,000 regional; 94,000 subscription).[30][31] The final was the most-watched WBBL game ever with a combined average audience of 479,000 and peaking at 812,000.[19]
Cricket Australia reported over 3.8 million highlight views on their YouTube channel and almost 10 million minutes viewed on the Cricket Network's live stream, with a 38 per cent rise of minutes viewed in Australia compared to the previous season.[19]
Lane, Daniel (2018). Big Bash Superstars: Incredible insights, stats, lessons and inspirations from the Big Bash heroes. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN9781760528591.
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