The tenth season of the BBL will start in the shadows of the first Test between Australia and India in December, feature more prime-time matches and wrap up on February 6.
Cricket Australia (CA) has revealed the BBL and WBBL fixtures for the coming summer.
The WBBL will run from October 17 until November 29.
The BBL will begin on December 3 with a clash at Adelaide Oval starting shortly after stumps on day one of the Test series opener in Brisbane.
CA will keep that theme running throughout the summer; a day’s play between Tim Paine and Virat Kohli’s respective teams will be followed by a BBL game throughout the first, third and fourth Tests.
There will be no BBL during the second Test, a day-night clash scheduled for December 11-15.
There are no changes to the length of the season in terms of matches, with CA keen to deliver what is stipulated in its $1.2 billion rights deal with the Seven Network and Foxtel.
However, the governing body has tinkered with start times and stretched the BBL window as it seeks to appease broadcasters and fans.
There are notably fewer afternoon starts in the BBL, and no games scheduled in Alice Springs and the Victorian town of Moe.
Both the BBL and WBBL schedules may potentially have to change, depending on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The governing body is mapping out a range of contingency plans, having already included a three-week hub in the middle of the WBBL season.
“While we know that the challenging, fast-changing coronavirus pandemic could ultimately mean revisions to the schedule, there is nonetheless a lot to like about the way both competitions are shaping up,” head of the BBL Alistair Dobson said.
“There are factors outside the league itself which could impact the fixture at a later date.
“That said, at this time, we are happy with the fixture as it stands.
“It should ensure that more BBL matches are played in prime time and enable the regular season to again finish inside the school holidays which was a key objective, particularly in light of the busy international schedule planned for the coming summer.”
CA is yet to finalise rule changes, with the most notable shift likely to be a player draft for international signings.
A total of 26 WBBL games will be broadcast live on Seven and Fox Sports; three more than last season.
Coastyboi
Guest
Here, here! Bring back the fun. A shorter season, please. BBL is like McDonalds - a little bit of guilty junk food is pleasurable, but, you wouldn’t eat Big Macs every night over the festive season.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
Even longer. This poison is just about enough for me to give up on the actual cricket. God knows what happens when one or two players in the Test team need to be replaced. Home series are supposed of the advanbtage of the potential back-ups playing a format vaguely similar to the national team. Someone coming in for Sydney will be coming off a month of crash and bash, in a totally different headspace to building an innings or needing to bowl long spells to a consistent plan.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I will defer to Lynny on this matter.
jamesb
Roar Guru
The BBL peaked when channel Ten had it. They broadcast every game, every night for pretty much the duration of the xmas/ new year school holidays. Each team played 8 games and it was good light hearted entertainment during a festive period. Now the BBL begins in early December where people are still busy. Each team plays 14 games and two networks are covering it, where 16 games go missing from FTA. It just seems more complicated and more oversized. The length of matches are not going to change until the next tv deal. In the past, the BBL was fun. Now it just drags on.
AREH
Roar Guru
Good shout - boy the first few seasons seemed much simpler. Not sure which issue has been solved here, apart from the H&A matches done within the school holidays- that's a tick. Can appreciate there's little wriggle room with the number of matches, but goodness - I fear we have one hell of a drag-along coming again. These are uncertain times admittedly, yet the schedule would have probably looked identical even in a world minus Covid.
Brian
Guest
It seems like they are trying to hedge some bets. The whole Indian tour has to be in doubt so if we have a purely domestic summer played in hubs they would want the BBL on the whole of Dec & Jan. Without a crowd the whole thing does seem so pointless. Its not AFL/NRL or a Test match where there are people at home who will care about the result
Paul D
Roar Rookie
They just can't help themselves. Fair enough, let's schedule BBL games after the test matches - but what on earth is the point of starting the BBL December 3rd to squeeze in a week's worth of games before stopping for a week and then starting up again? After the main complaint last time that the season was far too long, they've now gone for a 2 month season and stretched it out even more. Nonsensical. I don't mind 20/20 cricket but the BBL has become overkill. I think the only way they're going to learn is if we keep tuning out.