Last edition's runner-up Brisbane Heat will clash against mighty Melbourne Stars in the opening match of the Big Bash League 2023/24 season (BBL) on Thursday, December 7. The 13th edition of Australia's famous T20 franchise league brings format change and new rules with major changes to teams.
The defending champions Perth Scorchers will kick off their title defence with a mouth-watering away clash against Melbourne Renegades. Australia are also hosting Pakistan in the three-match Test series starting on December 14 and senior cricketers are expected to leave the league after the first week of play.
Eight teams will clash in 40 group-stage games and the final will be played on January 24, 2024. No more six if a ball touches the roof of the Marvel Stadium as the new rule gives the umpire more power to decide on whether it's six or not.
Where to watch BBL in India?
Big Bash League season 13 match will begin at 1:45 PM IST with home and away format. Star Sports Network have signed a multi-year contract with Cricket Australia and will stream BBL matches. Indian fans can watch all BBL games on the Star Sports network channel and enjoy live streaming on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website.
All BBL 2023/24 Squads
Perth Scorchers: Ashton Turner (c), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Zak Crawley, Stephen Eskinazi, Laurie Evans, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Mitchell Marsh, Hamish McKenzie, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman, Liam Haskett
Sydney Sixers: Moises Henriques (c), Steven Smith, Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Tom Curran, Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Todd Murphy, Izharulhaq Naveed, Steve O'Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, James Vince
Melbourne Stars: Glenn Maxwell (c), Scott Boland, Joe Burns, Hilton Cartwright, Brody Couch, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Liam Dawson, Sam Harper, Campbell Kellaway, Nick Larkin, Usama Mir, Jono Merlo, Joel Paris, Haris Rauf, Corey Rocchiccioli, Tom Rogers, Mark Steketee, Marcus Stoinis, Olly Stone, Imad Wasim, Beau Webster
Sydney Thunder: Chris Green (c), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Ollie Davies, Liam Doddrell, Matt Gilkes, Alex Hales, Liam Hatcher, Zaman Khan, Nathan McAndrew, Blake Nikitaras, Alex Ross, William Salzmann, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha,
Melbourne Renegades: Nic Maddinson (c), Joe Clarke, Quinton de Kock, Harry Dixon, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Ruwantha Kellapotha, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Fergus O'Neill, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Will Sutherland, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jon Wells, Adam Zampa
Brisbane Heat: Usman Khawaja (c), Xavier Bartlett, Sam Billings, Josh Brown, Max Bryant, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Colin Munro, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Will Prestwidge, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Paul Walter, Jack Wildermuth
Adelaide Strikers: Matt Short (c), Travis Head, Wes Agar, James Bazley, Cameron Boyce, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Adam Hose, Henry Hunt, Thomas Kelly, Chris Lynn, Ben Manenti, Harry Nielsen, Jamie Overton, David Payne, D'Arcy Short, Henry Thornton, Jake Weatherald
Hobart Hurricanes: Nathan Ellis (c), Corey Anderson, Iain Carlisle, Nikhil Chaudhary, Tim David, Paddy Dooley, Liam Guthrie, Sam Hain, Peter Hatzoglou, Sam Heazlett, Caleb Jewell, Chris Jordan, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Wade, Mac Wright