Big Bash League History
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Scroll through this page to learn about the Big Bash League history. Get to know about the new BBL KFC rules and revised prize money. Check out the tournament’s seasons and results as well.
Big Bash League or BBL is the newer version of the KFC Big Bash with some added rules and twisted turns. It’s the Australian professional league that started back in 2011. And is one of the two domestic cricket leagues alongside IPL, to enlist amongst the top ten domestic cricket leagues with average attendance.
Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers have been the most successful teams of BBL KFC. It is being sponsored by the fast food chicken outlet KFC, since its inception. Eight city-based teams participate in the Big Bash.
And the recent KFC Big Bash season 2021/2022 was won by the Perth Scorchers by 79 runs. If you’re willing to read more about the Big Bash League History, its tournament format and the prize money, keep on scrolling through this page.
The Table of Content
BBL Trophy Design History
While highlighting the Big Bash League history, we cannot overlook its trophy design contest that was held back in 2011. The administration of the Big Bash League restricted this contest to Australian designers only.
And the final decision was left to the public to decide on the Big Bash trophy design from a field of three. The final design of the KFC Big Bash trophy was revealed on 13 December 2011.
Expansion proposal of BBL
In 2012, after the Big Bash starting year, an expansion proposal for the Big Bash League was presented. This was after the successful BBL first season. As per the Big Bash League history, this expansion was to be implemented in 2012. Some additional regional areas were supposed to be added to the Big Bash tournament.
However, this proposal was suspended, because those areas lack proper cricket hosting facilities. Then again in 2015, another proposal for the KFC Big Bash expansion was given. New Zealand teams were to be added to the league.
Anyways, later we saw no implementation of this idea as well. And then, in 2018, the news was in the highlights that Gold Coast Suns is interested in buying a BBL franchise if it expands.
Christmas Day BBL match
In December 2015, Cricket Australia revealed to the Big Bash League fans that they’re considering hosting Christmas Day BBL matches in the upcoming years. It was said that the implementation of this plan would be made may be in next year, 2016.
This was quite an innovative idea since, in Australia, no professional cricket matches are played on Christmas Day. However, the plan has not yet been implemented.
Back in 2018, the Big Bash administration announced that they had struck a deal with the Players Association to conduct BBL matches on Christmas Day. The day it is going to happen, it will be a remarkable change in the Big Bash League history.
BBL Tournament format
Since the inception of the BBL season 1, it is being played in the same format. It has 56 regular matches before the final series. And 8 city-based teams are involved in it.
The final series of the Big Bash League involves the Eliminator round, the Qualifier, the Knock-out, the Challenger and finally the Grand Final round.
Recently, in the Big Bash season 2021/2022 to make the league more intriguing for the fans and challenging for the players, a few interesting rules have been added to the format. These were not part of the Big Bash first season. And we consider these new rules a turning point in BBL history. Let’s discuss them one by one.
Timed-Out Rule: As per this rule, the new batsman has to be at the crease within 60 seconds. And if he doesn’t comply, he must stand aside and let the bowler take free delivery.
Power Surge Rule: According to this rule, the batting side can call for the Power Surge any time from the 11th over onwards. Power Surge is a 2 over period where the fielding side can only have two players outside the inner circle.
X-Factor Player Rule: In the Big Bash League history, the such rule has never existed before. As per this rule, teams can replace their 12th or 13th player with any in the playing 11 after the 10th over of the first innings.
Bash Boost: It’s a bonus point given to the best-performing team after the tenth over.
Tournament seasons and results
The KFC Big Bash has a total of 11 seasons to date. Season 2011-2012 was the Big Bash League starting year. While the latest one is the season 2021-2022.
A total of 6 teams have won the Big Bash title yet. Out of these, Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers are the most successful teams in BBL. They have won the titles 4 and 3 times respectively.
Other than these, Melbourne Renegades, Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Thunder and Brisbane Heat are the one-time winners of the Big Bash League.
Big Bash League Season 1 2011-2012
Big Bash League first season was a successful start for Cricket Australia. It was played very well by all the participating teams. Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers met in the finals. And eventually, the Big Bash League’s first season was won by Sydney Sixers by 7 wickets.
Bret Lee and Mitchell Starc took the most wickets for Sydney Sixers. While Mitchell Marsh was the highest run scorer of Perth Scorchers.
Moises Henriques remained Man of the Match for BBL first season. While the Big Bash League starting year was a great championship for David Hussey, as he was awarded Man of the Tournament.
Big Bash League Season 11 2021-2022
The BBL most successful teams, Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers met in the final of season 11. And once again, the arch-rivals came against each other. Their rivalry is famous since season one’s final.
However this time, the BBL KFC’s result was opposite to the season 1. Perth Scorchers defeated Sydney Sixers and won by 79 runs.
This made Scorchers the most successful team in BBL cricket. Laurie Evans was the Perth Scorchers’ top scorer with 76 off 41 deliveries. And that’s why he was also awarded Man of the Match. However, for Sydney Sixers, only a few players made double figures.
BBL Prize money
As per the Big Bash League history, the prize money for the Big Bash League was $290,000. However, the amount was raised to $890,000 from the Big Bash season of 2015. This was after the discontinuation of Champions premier League Twenty20.
Now, the reward money for KFC Big Bash is divided into the four finalist teams:
- $20,000 for the fifth finishing team
- $80,000 for each semi-finalist
- $260,000 for the runners-up
- $450,000 for the winner
While the extra $600,000 are given to the successful clubs and not their players.
Attendance of BBL Matches
There’s no doubt regarding the BBL cricket popularity, since the BBL first season. However, the crowd of attendants started to raise, back in 2015. And then, there was no looking back. The league broke its own records one after the other, across all the venues.
South Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania and ACT are those Australian states that saw record domestic cricket crowds in BBL season 2015. This number kept on rising in the year following. And on January 2, 2016, a match between Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades saw record attendees of 80,883. While Perth Scorchers is BBL most successful team that has the record for selling out all of its home matches.
BBL Records and Statistics
In BBL cricket, players have made many records and achievements. We’ve mentioned here under the most remarkable ones.
Let’s start with the most runs of the KFC Big Bash. Chris Lynn has this record to his name with a total score of 2,790 runs. While Brad Hodge has the highest average of 42.78. Surprisingly, Lasith Malinga has marked his name in the lowest average section, with an average of 15.00.
Glenn Maxwell is the one who set a record highest score in a match with a 154* against Hobart Hurricanes. Sean Abbortt has the most wickets, 112. And everyone’s beloved Haris Rauf has the best strike rate of 12.5.
Glenn Maxwell has once again marked his name in the list of BBL achievements with most catches_59. And the highest total ever made by a team is 273-2 (20) by Melbourne Stars against Hobart Hurricanes.