Big Bash League Betting

The Big Bash League, often shortened to the BBL, is a Twenty20 cricket tournament run by Cricket Australia. It takes place annually between December and February, which happens to be the summer months in the southern hemisphere, a perfect time for online cricket betting. Like IPL betting, BBL betting will see you picking one of eight franchises to outright win the tournament. This page will cover everything you need to know about this Australian T20 tournament, and the best cricket betting sites where to follow it.

When Did the Big Bash League Begin?

big bash leaguebig bash league

The very first edition of this tournament took part in 2011. When the competition first came into being, each team that was participating had the chance to build their squad by offering players contracts. Since then, players can be added to each team using contracts, but no team can have more than 18 contracted players per season. Furthermore, each squad needs to have at least two rookie contracts and can only contain two players from overseas

Have a look at some facts about the Big Bash League

In the 2016-17 season, the Hobart Hurricanes scored 223 runs from their 20 overs, which is the highest score that has been scored in this competition. In the 2014-14 season, the Melbourne Renegades were bowled out for a mere 57 runs inside 12.4 overs. This is the lowest score that a team has been bowled out for in the history of the tournament. Michael Klinger has scored 1947 runs in 71 innings, making him the tournament's leading runscorer. D'Arcy Short scored 122* (from 69 balls) during the 2017-18 season, which is the highest individual score that this competition has seen. Ben Laughlin has taken 95 wickets in 75 matches, making him the competition's leading wicket taker. In the 2012-13 season, Lasith Malinga took 6-7 from his 4 overs. These are the best bowling figures in the tournament's history. Ish Shodi isn't far behind as he took 6-11 from 3.3 overs. Xavier Doherty, Andrew Tye, and Josh Lalor are the only players who have taken a hat-trick in this competition. Doherty managed it in the 2012-13 season, Tye in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, and Lalor in the 2018-19 season.

What Teams Compete in This Cricket Tournament?

Eight teams compete in this competition and the table below details what city and state they are from, the home ground that they play their cricket at, as well as who their coaches and captains are.

Team State City Cricket Ground Coach Captain(s)
Adelaide Strikers South Australia Adelaide Adelaide Oval Jason Gillespie Travis Head
Brisbane Heat Queensland Brisbane Brisbane Cricket Ground Darren Lehmann Chris Lynn
Hobart Hurricanes Tasmania Hobart Blundstone Arena Adam Griffith Matthew Wade
Melbourne Renegades Victoria Melbourne Marvel Stadium David Saker Aaron Finch
Melbourne Stars Victoria Melbourne Melbourne Cricket Ground David Hussey Glenn Maxwell
Perth Scorchers Western Australia Perth Perth Stadium Adam Voges Ashton Turner
Sydney Sixers New South Wales Sydney Sydney Cricket Ground Greg Shipperd Moises Henriques
Sydney Thunder New South Wales Sydney Sydney Showground Stadium Trevor Baylis Callum Ferguson

The matches between the two Melbourne teams and the two Sydney teams are the most attended games and are eagerly anticipated by fans.

What Format is Used in the Big Bash League?

From the 2011-12 season right up until the 2017-18, there were eight rounds, with four matches per round. Each team played everyone once and another team twice, meaning that the Melbourne and Sydney teams had the chance to play two derbies a season. Therefore, every team played eight matches in the group stage, four away and four at home, with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals. For the 2017-18 season, the format changed slightly so that each team played ten matches in the group stage. In the 2018-19 season, the format changed once again so that each team plays every other team twice (home and away), with the top four qualifying for the semi-finals. Regarding who plays who in the semi-finals, the team that finishes top of the group table will play the team that finishes fourth, while the team that comes second will play the team that finishes third.

"The final is always played at the stadium of the higher ranked team."

What Type of Prize Money is Involved?

The prize money is nowhere close to that of the Indian Premier League, but the winners still get a decent return. The table below gives a breakdown of the money that teams receive based on their final positions.

Final Position Prize Money (Australian Dollars)
Fifth 20,000
Semi-finals 80,000
Runners-up 260,000
Winners 450,000

*With the popularity of this tournament increasing with each passing year, the prize money awarded is only going to increase in size.

These Are the Teams That Have Won the BPL

From the eight teams that compete in this competition, six of them have won it at least once. In the table below you will be able to see which team has won each season, how much they won by, as well as who the runners-up were.

SeasonWinnerRunner-upWinning Margin
2011/12Sydney SixersPerth Scorchers7 wickets
2012/13Brisbane HeatPerth Scorchers34 runs
2013/14Perth ScorchersHobart Hurricanes39 runs
2014/15Perth ScorchersSydney Sixers4 wickets
2015/16Sydney ThunderMelbourne Stars3 wickets
2016/17Perth ScorchersSydney Sixers9 wickets
2017/18Adelaide StrikersHobart Hurricanes25 runs
2018/19Melbourne RenegadesMelbourne Stars13 runs
2019/20Sydney SixersMelbourne Stars19 runs
2020/21Sydney SixersPerth Scorchers27 runs

As you can see, the Perth Scorchers and the Sydney Sixers are the most successful teams in this tournament, having won the title three times. The Hobart Hurricanes and the Melbourne Stars are the only two teams that are yet to win this competition. For a complete breakdown of where each team has finished over the last eight seasons, check out the table below.

Team2011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/182018/192019/202020/21
Adelaide Strikers6th5th7thSFSF6thW7thKOEF
Brisbane Heat5thW5th8th6thSF7th5th7thCF
Hobart HurricanesSF6thR5th7th7thRSFEF6th
Melbourne Renegades7thSF6th6th5th5thSFW8th8th
Melbourne StarsSFSFSFSFRSF8thRR7th
Perth ScorchersRRWWSFWSF8th6thR
Sydney SixersW7thSFR8thR5thSFWW
Sydney Thunder8th8th8th7thW8th6th6thCFCF

W = Winner R = Runner-up SF = Semi-finalists EF = Eliminator Final CF = Challenger Final

There is Also a Women’s League As Well

It was revealed in January 2014, that a Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) was in the pipeline due to more people becoming interested in women's cricket. The following year it was announced that the first WBBL would take place during the 2015-16 season. It was declared that the team names would stay the same as in the men's league, as well as the team colours. It has the same format as the men’s league, with each team playing everyone twice and the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals. Once again, first will play fourth and second will play third. The first tournament was won by Sydney Thunder, with the other three being won by the Sydney Sixers (2016-17 and 2017-18), and Brisbane Heat.

You can read more about it on our WBBL betting page.

Our BBL Predictions Page Will Give You Tips on All the Big Matches

Some people like to dive right in and start placing bets without really knowing much about the competition or teams that they are betting on. If you do this, you might get lucky and win a couple of times, but we all know that luck doesn’t last forever. Sooner or later it will run out and you will find yourself losing more than you are winning. This is why we highly recommend that you take a look at our BBL prediction pages before placing any bets. We will give you tips on each match that will almost certainly improve your chances of winning.