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The tenth season of the WBBL begins just seven days after the T20 World Cup concludes in Bangladesh, which may put pressure on the availability of overseas players. However, because of the shorter competition, there will be more games in the evenings during primetime, with more technology being used.
The overseas draft is anticipated to take place in early September. While some clubs have already benefited from the new ability to sign a player to a multi-year contract prior to the draft, nominations are still open. CA is optimistic that it will have a strong roster of overseas names, but given its increasingly hectic schedule, some elite players may still weigh their options.
Nat Sciver-Brunt, an English player who entered the competition late with the Perth Scorchers the previous season, informed the BBC that she would not be participating this year.
In an attempt to lessen the effort of the top players in the league, the WBBL was reduced to a 40-game regular season with three finals; nevertheless, this season, scheduling pressure has been applied from all sides. While England plays South Africa starting on November 24, which coincides with the finals, Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk have committed to full seasons with the Melbourne Stars and Brisbane Heat, respectively. Australia and India begin a three-match ODI series on December 1, four days after the final.
“Clubs are working really hard in the market at the moment with players and agents,” Alistair Dobson, the head of the BBL, told as the WBBL fixture list was unveiled. “Obviously the calendar for players in the women’s game is really busy at that time of the year, particularly this year.
“We are excited about the players who have signed and think over the next month or two we’ll get a sense from players as to how they are preparing for the World Cup and their appetite to come quickly to Australia, whether that’s at the start of our competition, or perhaps a couple of games in which is certainly possible as well. We know the competition is still one of, if not the, most appealing for players around the world and we are expecting big names to be there again.”
In an attempt to mimic the WPL and Hundred’s audience development, Cricket Australia has increased and advanced the stadium series for the competition.
The WBBL moved back into big stadiums for the 2018 season, and 12,379 people showed up for the Adelaide Oval final, despite the fact that attendance is still below what has been accomplished in England and India.
“The introduction of the stadium series to the WBBL last year was a great success,” Dobson said. “Think it showed when we put the best cricket league in the world for women in the best cricket stadiums in the world we get a great product. The crowds loved it, the players loved it and our broadcasters loved it.
“We took a lot from that, we’ve added a big game at the Gabba; Brisbane Heat at the Gabba is iconic. We’ve brought them a week or so earlier than last year which means the games are even more likely to be live and the way we promote those games will be a big focus for us.”