CA announced the remainder of the WBBL fixtures will be played in Perth, Adelaide, and Mackay
Cricket Australia has secured a landmark deal with all 59 matches of this season’s WBBL competition to be broadcast on television for the first time.
Foxtel, the pay TV provider, will show all matches live while free-to-air network Channel Seven will carry 24 games. Last season 36 matches were shown on television with the remaining matches streamed online. It was originally planned that 47 matches would be broadcast this season but CA has been able to get all of them shown live. In the first year of the WBBL there were just 10 matches televised.
The WBBL has also announced the full fixture list having previously only been able to commit to the first 20 matches due to the ongoing Covid-19 issues in Australia. The first 20 matches will be played in Tasmania but the tournament will then move as a rolling carnival to Adelaide, Perth, and Mackay in Queensland with the finals venues yet to be locked in. Due to border closures, there will be no regular-season games in New South Wales, Victoria, or the ACT this season.
“The Weber WBBL is Australia’s highest rating sporting league for women and the world’s best cricket league for women,” Alistair Dobson, the BBL general manager, said. “We owe it to our players and loyal fans to deliver a full schedule, and today’s announcement further strengthens this.
“At the same time, to also announce a landmark broadcast footprint is amazing. Fans can now watch every game on TV, ensuring that our passionate supporters will have access to world-class cricket despite the challenges of the pandemic.”
Matches in Perth will be played at Lilac Hill and the WACA while Karen Rolton Oval and Adelaide Oval will host matches in Adelaide. There will be nine matches scheduled at Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay in Queensland at the end of the tournament after the ground successfully hosted three women’s ODIs between Australia and India recently. There are no matches scheduled in Brisbane or the Gold Coast.
The tournament will begin on October 14 with Sydney Thunder the defending champions
Alex Malcolm is an Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo