The 2015–16 Women's Big Bash League season or WBBL|01 was the first season of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), the semi-professional women's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament ran from 5 December 2015 to 24 January 2016.[2]
In the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Sydney Thunder defeated cross-town rivals, the Sydney Sixers, to win the inaugural championship title. Thunder all-rounder Erin Osborne managed bowling figures of 3/21 in the decider and was named Player of the Final.[3]
Melbourne Stars captain Meg Lanning was the leading run-scorer of WBBL|01 and was consequently named Player of the Tournament, although her team narrowly missed out on qualifying for finals. Sydney Thunder medium-pace bowler Rene Farrell was the tournament's leading wicket-taker.[4]
Teams
Teams were aligned with franchises in the men's Big Bash League and each squad consisted of 14 players,[5] with an allowance of up to five marquee signings including a maximum of three from overseas.[6] Australian marquees were defined as players who made at least ten limited-overs appearances for the national team between 1 July 2012 and 1 July 2015.[7]
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.
The format of the group stage was a double round-robin tournament. Several matches were scheduled at neutral venues with as many as five teams playing multiple matches in one city on the same weekend. There were 8 double-header regular season fixtures with the men's Big Bash League, as well as the semi-finals and final.
Melbourne Stars won by 20 runs Junction Oval, Melbourne Attendance: 1,500[9] Umpires: AJ Sammartino, D Brigham Player of the match: Meg Lanning (Stars)
Melbourne Stars won by 10 runs Junction Oval, Melbourne Attendance: 1,500[9] Umpires: AJ Sammartino, D Brigham Player of the match: Meg Lanning (Stars)
Sydney Thunder won by 9 wickets (with 40 balls remaining) Howell Oval, Sydney Attendance: 1,000[10] Umpires: K Knight, M Nickl Player of the match: Stafanie Taylor (Thunder)
Perth Scorchers won by 9 wickets (with 41 balls remaining) Aquinas College, Perth Umpires: T Rann, J Hewitt Player of the match: Charlotte Edwards (Scorchers)
Hobart Hurricanes won by 9 wickets (with 22 balls remaining) Aurora Stadium, Launceston Umpires: D Close, M Qureshi Player of the match: Julie Hunter (Hurricanes)
Melbourne Stars won by 9 wickets (with 23 balls remaining) Drummoyne Oval, Sydney Umpires: D Taylor, B Treloar Player of the match: Meg Lanning (Stars)
Sydney Thunder won by 6 wickets (with 3 balls remaining) Allan Border Field, Brisbane Umpires: M Branch, B Farrell Player of the match: Lauren Cheatle (Thunder)
Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to bat
Melbourne Stars won by 7 wickets (with 25 balls remaining) Drummoyne Oval, Sydney Umpires: A Hobson, B Treloar Player of the match: Meg Lanning (Stars)
Melbourne Renegades won by 7 wickets (with 19 balls remaining) The Gabba, Brisbane Umpires: MS Branch, BR Farrell Player of the match: Danielle Wyatt (Renegades)
Adelaide Strikers won by 6 wickets (with 6 balls remaining) Allan Border Field, Brisbane Umpires: SJ Farrell, DM Koch Player of the match: Sarah Taylor (Strikers)
Sydney Sixers won by 5 wickets (with 7 balls remaining) Sydney Cricket Ground Attendance: 2,000[11] Umpires: A Hobson, CA Polosak Player of the match: Marizanne Kapp (Sixers)
Perth Scorchers won by 6 wickets (with 4 balls remaining) WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: TR Rann, T Steenholdt Player of the match: Charlotte Edwards (Scorchers)
Perth Scorchers won by 8 wickets (with 17 balls remaining) WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: H Botes, J Hewitt Player of the match: Elyse Villani (Scorchers)
Sydney Thunder won by 8 wickets (with 2 balls remaining) WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: W Barron, T Steenholdt Player of the match: Charlotte Edwards (Scorchers)
Hobart Hurricanes won by 33 runs Blundstone Arena, Hobart Attendance: 4,283[13] Umpires: DR Close, CA Polosak Player of the match: Erin Burns (Hurricanes)
Sydney Thunder won by 5 wickets (with 44 balls remaining) Kingston Twin Ovals, Hobart Umpires: CA Polosak, M Qureshi Player of the match: Naomi Stalenberg (Thunder)
Melbourne Renegades won by 5 wickets (with 1 ball remaining) Melbourne Cricket Ground Attendance: 12,901[14][15] Umpires: D Ireland, DJ Shepard Player of the match: Molly Strano (Renegades)
Brisbane Heat won by 6 wickets (with 7 balls remaining) Kingston Twin Ovals, Hobart Umpires: M Qureshi, W Stewart Player of the match: Beth Mooney (Heat)
Melbourne Renegades won by 36 runs Etihad Stadium, Melbourne Attendance: 14,611[16] Umpires: D Shepard, S Lightbody Player of the match: Rachel Priest (Renegades)
Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to bat
Sydney Sixers won by 8 wickets (with 32 balls remaining) Junction Oval, Melbourne Umpires: D Brigham, S Brne Player of the match: Ellyse Perry (Sixers)
Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to bat
Perth Scorchers won by 9 wickets (with 24 balls remaining) Adelaide Oval No.2 Umpires: C Black, C Thomas Player of the match: Elyse Villani (Scorchers)
Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to bat
Sydney Sixers won by 2 wickets (with 0 balls remaining) Hurstville Oval, Sydney Umpires: AGDSJ Bandara, SA Lightbody Player of the match: Sara McGlashan (Sixers)
Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and elected to bat
Sydney Sixers qualified for finals, Brisbane Heat eliminated from finals contention
Perth Scorchers won by 9 wickets (with 28 balls remaining) Adelaide Oval No.2 Umpires: C Thomas, L Uthenwoldt Player of the match: Charlotte Edwards (Scorchers)
Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to field
Perth Scorchers qualified for finals, Melbourne Stars eliminated from finals contention
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.[4][19]
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.[20]
A total of ten matches were televised on free-to-air in the first season of Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) on One HD and Channel Ten. The average TV ratings for these matches are given below.
Initially only eight matches (seven regular season double-headers and the grand final) were scheduled to be televised on One HD. Due to higher than expected viewership, Channel Ten decided to move the Melbourne Derby on 2 January,[22] the Sydney Smash on 16 January and the grand final to the primary channel, and also added coverage of the two semi finals on One.[23][24]
^ abNumber of games hosted at each venue is indicated in brackets
^Only includes players who debuted for Australia before the tournament
^EnglishwomanNicky Shaw was classed as a local player when signing for the Scorchers due to her permanent residence in Australia and having made a lack of recent international cricket appearances
