The 2023-24 Big Bash League BBL|13 Final saw the Brisbane Heat defeat the Sydney Sixers by 54 runs for their 2nd Big Bash title.
The Big Bash League (BBL) is an annual cricket tournament held down under each December – January February giving punters something to look forward to on those hot summer nights.
It is an Australian domestic Twenty20 cricket competition currently sponsored by KFC, and the T20 format means all Big Bash games played give each of the two teams a single innings, which is restricted to a max of 20 overs.
Cricket Australia introduced the current Big Bash T20 tournament for the 2011-12 season, with eight BBL Teams facing off in the round-robin format during December – February.
2023-24 BIG BASH LEAGUE
- Big Bash Final Date: Wednesday January 24, 2024
- 2023-24 Big Bash Champions: Brisbane Heat (2nd title)
- Runners-Up: Sydney Sixers
- Dates: December 7, 2023 – January 24, 2024
- Season: 13th
- Sponsor: KFC
2023-24 BIG BASH LEAGUE TEAMS
Team |
Home ground/s (capacity) |
Captain/s |
Head coach |
Adelaide Strikers |
Adelaide Oval (53,583) |
Matt Short |
Jason Gillespie |
Brisbane Heat |
The Gabba (36,000) |
Usman Khawaja |
Wade Seccombe |
Hobart Hurricanes |
Bellerive Oval (20,000) |
Nathan Ellis |
Jeff Vaughan |
Melbourne Renegades |
Docklands Stadium (48,003) |
Nic Maddinson |
David Saker |
Melbourne Stars |
Melbourne Cricket Ground (100,024) |
Glenn Maxwell |
Peter Moores |
Perth Scorchers |
Perth Stadium (60,000) |
Ashton Turner |
Adam Voges |
Sydney Sixers |
Sydney Cricket Ground (48,000) |
Moises Henriques |
Greg Shipperd |
Sydney Thunder |
Sydney Showground Stadium (22,000) |
Chris Green |
Trevor Bayliss |
Table Credit: Wiki.
The current Big Bash League Teams in the competition are the:
- Adelaide Strikers
- Brisbane Heat
- Hobart Hurricanes
- Melbourne Renegades
- Melbourne Stars
- Perth Scorchers
- Sydney Sixers
- Sydney Thunder
Six of these teams have won a Big Bash title as of the end of the 2023-24 Big Bash season headlined by the Perth Scorchers (2013-14, 2014-15, 2016-17, 2021-22, 2022-23) who celebrated their record fifth title when defeating the Brisbane Heat in the BBL|12 Final.
The BBL is one of the fastest growing competitions in the country. Photo credit: Sports24Hour
Each BBL team plays each other at least once over the series and they are also all assigned a set “rival” they will play for a second time over the season. Traditional Big Bash League rivals include the two same-city clubs such as the Melbourne Renegades and Melbourne Stars, which means the Twenty20 BBL tournament can host two Melbourne derbies and two Sydney derbies over the season.
For the 2019-20 Big Bash the season was shortened but the number of games was increased from 59 to 61.
For the 2021-22 Big Bash season there was a total of 61 games played including the finals.
The 2023-24 Big Bash League season featured 44 matches and the final was won by the Brisbane Heat (2nd title).
Originally the Top 4 ranked teams on the BBL Ladder at the end of this group round would progress onto the tournament’s knock-out Semi-Finals.
This changed for the 2019-20 season of the Big Bash with the knock-outs replaced by the play-offs giving the top two teams a second chance at making the Big Bash Final should they lose the first match.
The Big Bash League Final is traditionally contested at the highest-ranked team’s home ground, but in 2022 the BBL Final took place at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne due to COVID restrictions.
The 2023-24 Big Bash Playoffs featured three matches – The Qualifier, The Knockout and The Challenger – before the Big Bash Final took place in late January, 2024 with the Brisbane Heat defeating the Sydney Sixers at the SCG.
Big Bash betting on the group stage matches and three T20 finals is big business in the summer months, with futures cricket odds also open on the tournament months in advance.
Big Bash Records
While the current BBL tournament has only been around since 2011-12, there have been some notable cricket records set within that time.
Chris Lynn (Heat) holds the Big Bash batting record of most runs with 3,005 as of the end of the 2021-22 season. In the Big Bash bowling records it is Sean Abbott (Sixers, Thunder) with the most wickets (125).
Other Big Bash League records to consider when placing your cricket bets on the next tournament can be viewed in the tables below.
Big Bash League Batting Records
Chris Lynn (Heat) |
100 |
3005 |
2011–2022 |
Aaron Finch (Renegades) |
86 |
2817 |
Glenn Maxwell (Renegades, Stars) |
95 |
2673 |
Jonathan Wells (Strikers, Hurricanes) |
103 |
2554 |
D’Arcy Short (Hurricanes) |
72 |
2553 |
2016–2022 |
Big Bash League Bowling Records
Title |
Player (Team/s) |
Record |
Most Wickets |
Sean Abbott (Sixers, Thunder) |
125 wickets (94 matches) |
Best Economy Rate |
Lasith Malinga (Melbourne Stars) |
5.40 |
Big Bash League Team Records
Title |
Team |
Record |
Highest Total |
Melbourne Stars |
2/273 (20.0 overs) vs Hobart Hurricanes (2021/22) |
Lowest Total |
Melbourne Renegades |
57 (12.4) vs Melbourne Stars (3 January 2015) |
*Records correct as of end of 2021-22 Big Bash Season
Big Bash Finals
The Big Bash League runs over the summer each season down under and comes to a thrilling conclusion with the BBL Finals in late January or early February.
After the Big Bash group games are played by the eight teams in the domestic Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League finals previously featured three knock-out matches.
For the 2019-20 Big Bash Season, those knock-outs were replaced by a revamped play-offs series. The Big Bash Play-Offs allow the top two ranked teams in the league the chance to lose their opening game but still make the Big Bash Final.
As of the 2023-24 Big Bash Series the Play-Off Finals are now dubbed: The Qualifier, The Knockout, The Challenger and The Final.
Where the BBL teams finish on the Big Bash Ladder at the end of these opening eight rounds determines whether they press onto a finals bid that season.
Teams are awarded two points for a win and the squad with the most points sits top of the table moving onto the finals with the other three highest-ranked teams.
The four teams last in the cricket standings at this point are knocked out of the competition. The highest-ranked team playing in the Big Bash League Final has the home ground advantage.
Big Bash betting is open months in advance on exactly which teams will make it to the BBL semi-finals and which club will come up trumps and take out the championship title.
Of the six teams to win a BBL competition, the Perth Scorchers are the most successful winning back-to-back T20 Big Bash finals in 2013-14, 2014-15 and taking it out again in 2016-17 before setting a record with a fourth title in the 2021-22 Final over three-time title holders the Sydney Sixers who were the defending champions from the 2020-21 season. They continued their winning ways with a record-extending fifth success in the 2022-23 season defeating the Brisbane Heat in The Final.
Big Bash Finals draw record crowds and there is the incentive of extra prize money allocated by Cricket Australia for those BBL teams to make it to the semis. The BBL Champions also are awarded $450,000 in prize money for the season.
Big Bash Finals Results
Season |
Final Winner |
Result |
Runner-Up |
Final Host |
Final Venue |
2011–12 |
Sydney Sixers |
Sixers won by 7 wickets |
Perth Scorchers |
Perth Scorchers |
WACA Ground |
2012–13 |
Brisbane Heat |
Heat won by 34 runs |
Perth Scorchers |
Perth Scorchers |
WACA Ground |
2013–14 |
Perth Scorchers |
Scorchers won by 39 runs |
Hobart Hurricanes |
Perth Scorchers |
WACA Ground |
2014–15 |
Perth Scorchers |
Scorchers won by 4 wickets |
Sydney Sixers |
Neutral Venue |
Manuka Oval |
2015–16 |
Sydney Thunder |
Thunder won by 3 wickets |
Melbourne Stars |
Melbourne Stars |
Melbourne Cricket Ground |
2016–17 |
Perth Scorchers |
Scorchers won by 9 wickets |
Sydney Sixers |
Perth Scorchers |
WACA Ground |
2017–18 |
Adelaide Strikers |
Strikers won by 25 runs |
Hobart Hurricanes |
Adelaide Strikers |
Adelaide Oval |
2018-19 |
Melbourne Renegades |
Renegades won by 13 runs |
Melbourne Stars |
Melbourne Stars |
Marvel Stadium |
2019-20 |
Sydney Sixers |
Sixers won by 19 runs |
Melbourne Stars |
Sydney Sixers |
Sydney Cricket Ground |
2020-21 |
Sydney Sixers |
Sixers won by 27 runs |
Perth Scorchers |
Sydney Sixers |
Sydney Cricket Ground |
2021-22 |
Perth Scorchers |
Scorchers won by 79 runs |
Sydney Sixers |
Perth Scorchers |
Marvel Stadium** |
2022-23 |
Perth Scorchers |
Scorchers won by 5 wickets |
Brisbane Heat |
Perth Scorchers |
Perth Stadium |
2023-24 |
Brisbane Heat |
Heat won by 54 runs |
Sydney Sixers |
Sydney Sixers |
Sydney Cricket Ground |
**Marvel Stadium, Melbourne was host to the 2021-22 Big Bash Final due to COVID restrictions in WA.