SYDNEY: The sky is the limit at the moment in terms of where we can take the game and how exciting and special it could be,” star allrounder and Sydney Sixers captain Ellyse Perry said at a colourful gathering marking the launch of the third edition of the Women’s Big Bash League.
Then Perry and her colleagues from the eight franchises indulged in hitting around colour-filled orbs, orchestrated for a vibrant promotional video. The WBBL, in its third avatar now, isn’t a tournament merely feeding off spillover patronage from the men’s tournament. It dared enough to start a full 10 days before the men’s tournament and received its biggest shot of confidence when title-sponsor Rebel extended their association with the tournament for a further three seasons starting 2018-19.
In many ways, 2017 has been a significant milestone for women’s cricket - on par with 1999 when the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) opened the doors of the sport’s inner sanctum to allow women members. In June, the England and Indian women’s cricket teams sold out the World Cup final at Lord’s - a match watched by an estimated global audience of 100 million.
Now, spectator interest has been piqued, there is more money (still far away from what the men’s game makes) and commitment from the custodians. The players are fitter, stronger and more importantly, professional. It’s a juncture that Cricket Australia wants to use it’s early-mover advantage.
There are major frontiers still to be captured. In a recent survey, only about 40% of Australians were found to be aware of a Women’s cricket team. That is a challenge ahead of McConnie and team to push a product beyond its current audience.
Free entry to games, common days for the men’s and women’s derby clashes (Thunder-Sixers & Stars-Renegades) and taking games to non-traditional grounds as well as entering partnerships with non-sport entities are some of the steps taken by Cricket Australia to build its WBBL brand.
But to the “fun” part, The WBBL03 will be packaged in 59 matches played at more than 20 venues across 57 days. Perry’s Sydney Sixers will defend the title they grabbed out of Perth Scorchers’ hands last year.
Sydney Thunder, the other side to have won a title, will want to shrug off the disappointment from last season’s underwhelming campaign to stitch together another title-winning run. The other teams, all reinforced with many of the stars from the recent World Cup, will aim to end the Thunder-Sixers duolpoly at the top.