The Women’s Big Bash League returns for its 12th edition from 29th October to 5th December 2026, and two of its most decorated veterans believe the competition remains the benchmark for franchise cricket.
At the season launch in Sydney, Perth Scorchers captain Sophie Devine and Sydney Sixers great Ellyse Perry championed the WBBL’s depth, unpredictability and domestic talent, with 43 matches across 38 days set to determine who succeeds Hobart Hurricanes as champions.
Sophie Devine, who will lead the Scorchers after their heart-breaking eight-wicket defeat to Elyse Villani’s Hurricanes in the 11th-edition final at Bellerive Oval on 13th December 2025, believes this could be the most open WBBL yet. With Villani retiring after guiding Hobart to their maiden title, the defending champions enter a new era, while Devine sees opportunity across all eight franchises.
“Looking at all the squads, anyone can beat anyone on their day and especially in T20 cricket,” Devine said. “It’s such a game where it only takes one person to change it. So, for us, home games become super important because I want to make sure that you’re winning those games at home. But there are no easy home games either.”
The New Zealand great’s faith in the field is grounded in the competition’s history of shifting power. Sydney Thunder won the inaugural edition in 2015-16 and added a second title in 2020, while the Sydney Sixers became the first side to defend the trophy with back-to-back triumphs in 2016-17 and 2017-18. Brisbane Heat followed with consecutive titles in 2018-19 and 2019-20, before the Adelaide Strikers completed their own defence in 2022 and 2023.
The Melbourne Renegades claimed their first championship in 2024, and Hobart’s breakthrough last season reinforced Devine’s point that form, momentum and individual brilliance can reshape a campaign quickly. The Perth Scorchers, runners-up in 2016-17, 2017-18 and again in 2025, remain one of the competition’s most consistent sides without converting that pedigree into more than their solitary 2021 title.
“Looking back over the competition’s history, it’s sort of gone in waves a little bit, as there’s teams that you think should absolutely be in the finals, and then they’re not,” Devine said. “The competition being the (short) length that it is, you can ride the wave a little bit. I do genuinely think that any team in this comp can win it.”
While The Hundred continues to grow in the United Kingdom and India’s Women’s Premier League offers greater financial rewards, Devine was emphatic that the WBBL’s strength lies in the quality of its local players. She argued that domestic cricketers, rather than overseas stars alone, have consistently decided tight contests.
“Certainly over the last couple of years, it’s become a lot tighter, and that’s been down to probably the standard of the domestic players,” she said. “A lot of franchise competitions, it’s the international players that have the biggest impact here. But it’s always been the domestic players which have proven to be the difference between the teams. That’s why this competition is so good because it just keeps getting better and better. For me, this still is the benchmark for franchise cricket.”
Ellyse Perry, entering her 20th summer of cricket, remains central to that argument. The Sixers all-rounder is the WBBL’s second-highest run-scorer with 5,101 runs at an average of 49.04 and a strike rate of 111.13 from 141 innings, including 34 fifties and three hundreds in 144 matches. She has also taken 72 wickets at 32.79, with an economy rate of 7.17 and a five-wicket haul.
Devine’s own all-round record underlines the calibre of the competition’s veterans. Across 143 WBBL matches for Adelaide Strikers and Perth Scorchers, she has scored 4,195 runs at 34.95, striking at 126.85, with 22 half-centuries and four centuries. With the ball, she has claimed 124 wickets at 23.10, including two four-wicket hauls and a five-wicket haul.
Perry has previously raised concerns about the WBBL’s scheduling during school terms, but struck a more optimistic note ahead of the new season. “There are challenges with that but having more games on the weekend certainly makes it easier,” she said. “We’re hopefully pushing further towards December this year so the school year’s winding down a little bit more. This year we’ve got some awesome opportunities with this competition, and we’ve got no doubt that the fans will still find a way to come.”
The tournament begins with Sydney Thunder meeting the Melbourne Renegades in Melbourne on 29th October. Later that day, the Hurricanes begin their defence against the Melbourne Stars at Junction Oval, which will host night matches for the first time following the installation of lights. The Stars remain the only franchise yet to win the WBBL, having fallen short in the 2020 final, while Brisbane Heat and Adelaide Strikers will chase third titles after finishing runners-up in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
For Devine and Perry, however, the opening week is less about history and more about possibility. In a competition where champions have changed rapidly, and domestic depth keeps raising the ceiling, the 12th WBBL promises another unpredictable race for the trophy.
(Quotes sourced from Cricket Australia Official Press Release)
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