The 2022–23 Women's Big Bash League season or WBBL, 08 was the eighth season of the

Women's Big Bash League The Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) also known as Weber WBBL for sponsorship reasons, is the Australian professional Women's Twenty20 Cricket league. The WBBL replaced the Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup, which ran from the 2007–08 season ...

(WBBL), the semi-professional women's

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament was played from 13 October to 26 November 2022. The

Perth Scorchers The Perth Scorchers are an Australian men's professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Big Bash League. The Scorchers wear an orange uniform and are based in Perth in the Australian state of Western Australia. Their home gr ...

entered the season as the defending champions, having won their maiden title in WBBL07, but failed to qualify for the finals. The

Sydney Sixers The Sydney Sixers is an Australian professional franchise men's cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League (BBL). Along with the Sydney Thunder, the Sixers are the successors of the Spee ...

won eleven games during the regular season—a new WBBL record—and finished on top of the points table for the fourth time in the team's history, thereby automatically qualifying (and earning host rights) for the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. In the championship decider, played at

North Sydney Oval North Sydney Oval (Also known as “Bear Park” by North Sydney Bears fans) is a multi-use sporting facility in Miller Street, North Sydney, Australia, owned and operated by North Sydney Council. First used as a cricket ground in 1867, it is ...

, the Sixers were defeated in an upset by the

Adelaide Strikers The Adelaide Strikers are an Australian professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia that compete in the Big Bash League (BBL).Cricket Australia (n.d), Teams and Players, Cricket Australia, accessed 1 Decemb ...

. Making a second-consecutive Final appearance, the Strikers won by ten runs to claim their first WBBL title. All-rounder

Deandra Dottin Deandra Jalisa Shakira Dottin (born 21 June 1991) is a Barbadian cricketer and former track and field athlete. A right-handed batter and right-arm fast bowler, Dottin made her debut for the West Indies women's cricket team i ...

was pivotal in her team's victory, contributing an unbeaten 52 runs with the bat and two wickets with the ball, and was subsequently named Player of the Match. For the third-straight season, Perth Scorchers batter Beth Mooney was the competition's leading run-scorer. Adelaide Strikers fast bowler Megan Schutt led the league for wickets taken, and Sydney Sixers all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner became the first past-winner of the Young Gun Award to be named Player of the Tournament.

Teams

Each squad is made up of 15 active players. Teams can sign up to five 'marquee players', with a maximum of three of those from overseas. Marquees are defined as any overseas player, or a local player who holds a

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...

national contract at the start of the WBBL, 08 signing period. The table below lists each team's marquee players and other key details for the season.

Personnel changes

Local players

The table below lists local player movements made ahead of the season.

Overseas players

The table below lists changes to overseas player allocations made before and during the season.

Leadership

Coaching changes made ahead of the season included: * Jonathan Batty was appointed head coach of the Melbourne Stars, replacing Jarrad Loughman. *

Charlotte Edwards Charlotte Marie Edwards (born 17 December 1979) is an English former cricketer and current cricket coach and commentator. She played primarily as a right-handed batter. She appeared in 23 Test matches, 191 One Day Internationals and 95 Twent ...

was appointed head coach of the Sydney Sixers, replacing Ben Sawyer. *

Dan Marsh Daniel Davis (born March 28, 1956) is an American former professional wrestling referee and wrestler best known under the ring name "Dangerous" Danny Davis when he worked for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). For years, he competed as Mr. ...

was appointed head coach the Hobart Hurricanes, replacing Salliann Beams.

Captaincy A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish colonies, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule admin ...

changes made ahead of the season included: *

Elyse Villani Elyse Jayne Villani (born 6 October 1989) is an Australian cricketer who played for the Australia national women's team from 2009 to 2019. She has also played domestic cricket for various teams in both the Women's National Cricket League (WNC ...

was appointed captain of the Hobart Hurricanes, replacing Rachel Priest ( 5–8 win–loss record). * Nicole Faltum was appointed captain of the Melbourne Stars, replacing

Meg Lanning Meghann Moira Lanning (born 25 March 1992) is an Australian cricketer who formerly captained the national women's team. Lanning has been a member of seven successful world championship campaigns, winning two Women's Cricket World Cup and five ...

( 27–25 win–loss record). Captaincy changes made during the season included: * Hayley Matthews stood in as acting captain of the Melbourne Renegades for two games, after

Sophie Molineux Sophie Grace Molineux (born 17 January 1998) is an Australian cricketer from Bairnsdale, Victoria. A left-arm orthodox bowling all-rounder, Molineux has been a member of the national women's team since 2018. At domestic level, she currently pla ...

sustained a knee injury. * Megan Schutt stood in as acting captain of the Adelaide Strikers for two games while

Tahlia McGrath Tahlia May McGrath (born 10 November 1995) is an Australian international cricketer who is the vice-captain of the Australia women's national cricket team. She made her Women's One Day International cricket (WODI) debut South Africa women's cri ...

was rested with a back complaint.

Media coverage

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

were once again scheduled to broadcast 24 matches on free-to-air television, which will be simulcast on

Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...

. The remaining 35 matches will be broadcast by Foxtel, and will also be streamed live on ''cricket.com.au''. All 59 matches will be available to watch live and on-demand via

Kayo Sports Kayo Sports is an Australian over-the-top video streaming service owned by Hubbl, a subsidiary of Foxtel. Launched in November 2018, the service is oriented towards sports, carrying live and on-demand content from Foxtel's Fox Sports networks ...

Points table

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.

Fixtures

As per all previous seasons, WBBL, 08 will consist of a 56-match double round-robin, followed by a finals series featuring the top four qualifiers.

Week 1

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Week 2

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Week 3

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Week 4

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Week 5

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- In the 15th meeting between the two Melbourne teams—the first to take place in their home city since 30 November 2019—the Renegades lost three early wickets before Josie Dooley and Courtney Webb formed a 50-run partnership from 39 balls. Sarah Coyte hit two sixes off the bowling of Kim Garth in the 20th over, helping to set a target of 149 for victory. The Stars began the run chase sluggishly, and failed to capitalise on several controversial umpiring decisions in their favour.

Alice Capsey Alice Rose Capsey (born 11 August 2004) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Surrey, Oval Invincibles, Delhi Capitals and Melbourne Stars. An all-rounder, she is a right-handed batter and right-arm off break bowler. In 2021, Capsey ...

survived a close

stumping Stumped is a method of Dismissal (cricket), dismissing a batter (cricket), batter in cricket, in which the wicket-keeper put down the wicket, puts down the wicket of the Glossary_of_cricket_terms#S, striker while the striker is out of their Bat ...

chance but was ultimately dismissed for just eleven, while the

Decision Review System The Decision Review System (DRS), formerly known as the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), is a technology-based system used in cricket to assist the match officials in their decision-making. On-field umpires may choose to consult with the t ...

overturned an LBW call for Garth who would nevertheless fall to the bowling of Coyte in the following over. Earlier in the innings, Coyte became the eighth player in WBBL history to claim 100 career wickets. Annabel Sutherland breathed life into the contest as the Stars scored 22 runs from the 14th over against the previously economical

Ella Hayward Ella Hayward (born 8 September 2003) is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Melbourne Renegades in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) and Victoria in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL). She played in eight matches for the Renegad ...

. The Renegades created several opportunities to effectively close out the match but put down key catching chances, which included an error in the field by

Shabnim Ismail Shabnim Ismail (born 5 October 1988) is a South African former international cricketer who currently playing cricket leagues all over the world. who made her debut for the national women's team in January 2007. A right-arm fast bowler, Ismail ...

off her own bowling. Needing an unlikely 23 runs from six balls to win, Sutherland promptly launched two sixes to dramatically shift the game's momentum. While delivering the third ball of the final over, Renegades captain

suffered a knee injury which forced her from the field. Georgia Prestwidge was subsequently given the task of finishing the over, having not bowled throughout the innings up to that point. Sutherland proceeded to hit another six, and Stars captain Nicole Faltum then scored one run off the last delivery of the match to clinch her team's sixth win against their crosstown rivals. ---- ----

Week 6

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Knockout phase

Eliminator

Challenger

Final

Background

The

reached their fifth WBBL Final, having appeared in each of the league's first four championship deciders. They became the second team in the competition's history (following the

Melbourne Stars Melbourne Stars are an Australian Twenty20 franchise cricket team, based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in Australia's Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League. The Stars wear a green uniform and play their home matches at the Melbou ...

in WBBL06) to reach the Final after finishing the previous season in last place. WBBL, 08 Sixers squad members Erin Burns, Lauren Cheatle, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy and

Ellyse Perry Ellyse Perry (born 3 November 1990) is an Australian cricketer and former soccer, soccer player. Having debuted for both the Australia women's national cricket team, national cricket and Australia women's national soccer team, national soccer t ...

were all part of the team's title-winning campaign in WBBL03. Gardner, Healy and Perry were also part of the team's title-winning campaign in WBBL02. The

reached their second-consecutive WBBL Final, and third in four seasons.

Suzie Bates Suzannah Wilson Bates (born 16 September 1987) is a New Zealand cricketer and former captain of national women cricket team. Born in Dunedin, she plays domestic cricket for the Otago Sparks, as well as for the White Ferns. She currently holds t ...

, overseas marquee player for the Sydney Sixers in WBBL, 08, was the captain of the Strikers in WBBL05 when they were defeated in the championship decider by the

Brisbane Heat The Brisbane Heat are an Australian professional franchise men's and women's cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League (BBL). The Heat are the successors of the Queensland Bulls who playe ...

. Jemma Barsby and

Laura Wolvaardt Laura Wolvaardt (born 26 April 1999) is a South African cricketer who currently plays for Western Province, Adelaide Strikers, Gujarat Giants, Manchester Originals and South Africa. She plays as a right-handed opening batter. She has previo ...

are the only WBBL, 08 Strikers squad members to have previously been part of a title-winning campaign, having played for the Heat when they defeated the Sixers in the WBBL04 Final. The Sixers and Strikers had never previously met in a championship decider. The only prior meeting in the knockout phase occurred during WBBL, 03, when the Sixers recorded a 17-run semi-final defeat of the Strikers. The WBBL, 08 Final would be the 18th overall encounter between the two teams, with the Sixers holding a 12–5 head-to-head edge. It would be the second Final held at

, following the WBBL, 06 Final between the Melbourne Stars and

Sydney Thunder The Sydney Thunder is an Australian franchise professional cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League. Along with the Sydney Sixers, the Thunder is the successor to the Speed Blitz Blues, ...

, making it the first venue to host multiple championship deciders. Although the Sydney Sixers and Adelaide Strikers had never met in a WBBL Final before, several players from both sides were involved in the 2015–16 WNCL final between

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(Cheatle, Healy and Perry) and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

(Tahlia McGrath, Tegan McPharlin, Bridget Patterson, Megan Schutt and Amanda-Jade Wellington). The match, which South Australia won by 54 runs, was notable for marking the end of New South Wales' ten-year championship streak in the national 50-over competition.

Match summary

Laura Wolvaardt and Katie Mack put on a 51-run first-wicket stand for the Strikers, though both players were then removed within the space of six balls. Mack (31 off 26) became just the second batter in WBBL history (following Suzie Bates in WBBL, 02) to be dismissed

hit wicket Hit wicket is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is governed by Law 35 of the Laws of Cricket. The striker is out "hit wicket" if, after the bowler has entered his delivery stride and while the ball is in pla ...

. Deandra Dottin survived two close calls in the ninth over off the bowling of Kate Peterson—first a catch put down by Nicole Bolton at point, then a catch taken from a waist-high no ball. The next over Dottin was caught again, but this time she was granted a reprieve due to Ellyse Perry committing a front-foot no ball. Scoring slowed notably between the 13th and 17th overs of the innings, and the trio of McGrath, Patterson and Madeline Penna all fell in that period. The Sixers were made to pay for their earlier missed opportunities when Dottin launched a six off Gardner in the 18th over, then hit a four and another six off the last two balls of the Peterson-delivered 19th over. Having set the favourites a target of 148 for victory, general consensus among commentators was the Strikers had been restricted to a below-par total. The run chase began after an unusual twelve-minute delay, caused by a complaint from Sixers batter Suzie Bates about the setting sun impairing her vision. The Strikers quickly claimed ascendancy in the contest, as the hosts found themselves down 4/16 in the sixth over. Nicole Bolton (32 off 27) and Perry (33 off 32) helped their team recover via a 60-run partnership, though each batter would be bowled by McGrath and Darcie Brown in the 14th and 15th over respectively.

Sophie Ecclestone Sophie Ecclestone (born 6 May 1999) is an English cricketer who plays for Lancashire Women cricket team, Lancashire, North West Thunder, Manchester Originals, UP Warriorz and England women's cricket team, England. In December 2018, the Internat ...

and Maitlan Brown combined to clear the rope four times late in the innings, while the Strikers made several errors in the field which kept the door ajar. Nevertheless, wickets continued to fall, and the task became too much for the Sixers after Ecclestone was deceived by a Megan Schutt

slower ball In the sport of cricket, a slower ball is a slower-than-usual delivery from a fast bowler. The bowler's intention is to deceive the batsman into playing too early so that he either misses the ball completely or hits it high up in the air to offe ...

. Facing Amanda-Jade Wellington's leg spin, Maitlan Brown hit the last delivery of the match in the air to long-on, which Wolvaardt successfully juggled and consequently sealed a ten-run victory for the Strikers.

Post-match

Barbadian marquee Deandra Dottin became the third-consecutive overseas signing to be named Player of the Match in a WBBL Final. The Strikers became the fifth team to win a WBBL title, leaving the Hobart Hurricanes,

Melbourne Renegades Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competit ...

and Melbourne Stars as the three remaining teams yet to claim a championship. Wicket-keeper Tegan McPharlin retired from cricket at the conclusion of the match, having played 109 WBBL matches for the Strikers and 86 WNCL matches for South Australia. Adding insult to injury for the losing team, the Sixers were deemed to be one over behind the

over rate An over rate is the average number of Over (cricket), overs bowled per hour by the Bowling (cricket), bowling team in cricket. When calculated by Test match officials, allowances are made for Dismissal (cricket), wickets taken (2 mins per wicket) ...

for the match, which triggered an automatic one-game suspension for captain Ellyse Perry (to be served at the beginning of WBBL, 09).

Statistics

Highest totals

Source
CricInfo

Most runs

*Source

Most wickets

*Source

Awards

Player of the tournament

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. Source:

Team of the tournament

The selection panel for the Team of the Tournament was made up of the head coaches of the eight WBBL clubs. * Beth Mooney (Perth Scorchers) *

Georgia Redmayne Georgia Prue Redmayne (born 8 December 1993) is an Australian cricketer who plays as a Wicket-keeper-batsman, wicket-keeper-batter for Queensland Fire and Brisbane Heat (WBBL), Brisbane Heat. She has also previously played for Worcestershire Wo ...

(Brisbane Heat) – wicket-keeper * Alyssa Healy (Sydney Sixers) * Ashleigh Gardner (Sydney Sixers) * Annabel Sutherland (Melbourne Stars) * Erin Burns (Sydney Sixers) *

Amelia Kerr Amelia Charlotte Kerr (born 13 October 2000) is a New Zealand cricketer who currently plays for Wellington Blaze, Wellington and New Zealand women's national cricket team, New Zealand. She is the youngest female cricketer to score a List of One ...

(Brisbane Heat) *

Jess Jonassen Jessica Louise Jonassen (born 5 November 1992) is an Australian cricketer from Rockhampton, Rockhampton, Queensland. A left-arm orthodox Bowler (cricket), bowler, Jonassen has been a member of the Australia women's national cricket team, nationa ...

(Brisbane Heat) – captain * Amanda-Jade Wellington (Adelaide Strikers) * Nicola Hancock (Brisbane Heat) * Megan Schutt (Adelaide Strikers) * Molly Strano (Hobart Hurricanes) – 12th Source:

Young gun award

Players under 21 years of age at the start of the season were eligible for the Young Gun Award. The winner was chosen by national selector Shawn Flegler. Melbourne Stars all-rounder Tess Flintoff was named the Young Gun for WBBL, 08, having scored 116 runs at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 23.20 and a

strike rate Strike rate refers to two different cricket statistics, statistics in the sport of cricket. Batting strike rate is a measure of how quickly a batsman, batter achieves the primary goal of batting (cricket), batting, namely scoring run (cricket), r ...

of 165.71, and claimed four wickets during the season.

Most valuable players

Each team designated an award to adjudge and recognise their most outstanding contributor for the season. * Adelaide Strikers: Megan Schutt * Brisbane Heat: Amelia Kerr * Melbourne Renegades:

* Melbourne Stars: Annabel Sutherland * Perth Scorchers:

Marizanne Kapp Marizanne Kapp ( , ; born 4 January 1990) is a South African international cricketer who plays for South Africa national women's cricket team. She was the first female cricketer to take a hat-trick in a T20 match for South Africa. Career In ...

* Sydney Sixers: Ashleigh Gardner * Sydney Thunder:

Phoebe Litchfield Phoebe Elizabeth Susan Litchfield (born 18 April 2003) is an Australian international cricketer who plays as a left-handed Batting (cricket), batter who represents Australia in all three formats of the game. She plays for the New South Wales Br ...

Notes

References

External links

Official fixtures

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 Women's Big Bash League season 2022–23 Women's Big Bash League season by team Women's Big Bash League seasons !