Big Bash 2021 Betting: A betting guide to the Australian domestic T20 franchise competition
Sunday 5th December sees the return of the Big Bash League and our resident cricket guru @OddsTerrier has all the info you need for this exciting T20 competition from down under. We'll be regularly updating the page with info, odds and tips so bookmark it for all your Big Bash betting needs.
What is the Big Bash League?
The Big Bash League or BBL11 is the eleventh season of the Professional men's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. It is one of the premier T20 franchise competitions in the world and probably only second to the Indian Premier League (IPL) in stature.
When does the competition take place and where can I watch it?
BBL11 runs from Sunday 5th December through to the final on Friday 28th January. It will be broadcast live and exclusively in the UK on Sky Sports for the first time, taking over the contract from BT Sport. Fixtures will generally start between 7.30 and 10.30 am BST.
What is the Format?
Eight Franchise teams will play each other home and away, comprising 56 regular season matches, staged at 14 venues across Australia. They are listed below:
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Manuka Oval, Canberra
Docklands Stadium, Melbourne
Aurora Stadium, Launceston
Perth Stadium, Perth
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney
Carrara Oval, Queensland
Bellerive Oval, Hobart
The Gabba, Brisbane
International Sports Stadium, Coffs Harbour
Junction Oval, Melbourne
Simonds Stadium, Geelong
The top five teams in the league phase will progress to the playoff stage. There is a heavy advantage in finishing higher up the league - a team finishing 4th or 5th would have to win four extra matches to win the title whereas a team finishing 1st or 2nd can win it in just two.
Who are the eight franchises and what do their squads look like?
| Team | Home Ground | Capacity | Captain | Head coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Strikers | Adelaide Oval | 53,583 | Travis Head |
Jason Gillespie |
| Brisbane Heat | The Gabba Metricon Stadium |
42,000 25,000 |
Jimmy Peirson | Wade Seccombe |
| Hobart Hurricanes | Blundstone Arena UTAS Stadium |
20,000 21,000 |
Matthew Wade | Adam Griffith |
| Melbourne Renegades | Docklands Stadium GMHBA Stadium |
48,003 34,000 |
Nic Maddinson | David Saker |
| Melbourne Stars | Melbourne Cricket Ground Junction Oval |
100,024 7,000 |
Glenn Maxwell | David Hussey |
| Perth Scorchers | Perth Stadium | 60,000 | Ashton Turner | Adam Voges |
| Sydney Sixers | Sydney Cricket Ground Coffs Harbour International Stadium |
48,000 20,000 |
Moises Henriques | Greg Shipperd |
| Sydney Thunder | Sydney Showground Stadium Manuka Oval |
22,000 16,000 |
Usman Khawaja | Trevor Bayliss |
Adelaide Strikers
Wes Agar, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Travis Head (c), Spencer Johnson, Harry Nielsen, Liam O'Connor, Matthew Renshaw, Liam Scott, Peter Siddle, Jon Wells, Daniel Worrall, George Garton, Ryan Gibson, Fawad Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Matt Short, Jake Weatherald
Brisbane Heat
Xavier Bartlett, Tom Cooper, Sam Heazlett, Chris Lynn, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Jimmy Peirson (c), Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Willans, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Ben Duckett, Tom Abell, Jack Wildermuth, James Bazley, Matt Kuhnemann, Max Bryant, Connor Sully
Hobart Hurricanes
Scott Boland, Tim David. Nathan Ellis, Peter Handscomb, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Wil Parker, D'Arcy Short, Matthew Wade (c), Mac Wright, Sandeep Lamichhane, Caleb Jewell, Joel Paris, Harry Brook, Josh Kann, Tom Rogers, Jordan Thompson
Melbourne Renegades
Cameron Boyce, Zak Evans, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Josh Lalor, Shaun Marsh, James Pattinson, Mitch Perry, Jack Prestwidge, Kane Richardson, Will Sutherland, Nic Maddinson (c), Reece Topley, Unmukt Chand, Mohammad Nabi, Zahir Khan
Melbourne Stars
Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Seb Gotch, Liam Hatcher, Clint Hinchliffe, Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell (c), Tom O'Connell, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Joe Burns, Sam Rainbird, Joe Clarke, Qais Ahmad, Sam Elliot, Beau Webster
Perth Scorchers
Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Peter Hatzoglou, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Kurtis Patterson, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Colin Munro, Laurie Evans, Tymal Mills, David Moody, Cooper Connolly, Nick Hobson
Sydney Sixers
Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Dan Christian, Tom Curran, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Moises Henriques (c), Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Nathan Lyon, Ben Manenti, Josh Philippe, Lloyd Pope, Jordan Silk, James Vince, Steve O'Keefe, Chris Jordan
Sydney Thunder
Jonathan Cook, Ben Cutting, Ollie Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matt Gilkes, Chris Green, Baxter Holt, Usman Khawaja, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain, Alex Hales, Sam Billings, Baxter Holt, Saqib Mahmood, Jason Sangha
Big Bash Odds
-
26.7%
-
20%
-
12.5%
Who are the favourites to win the Outrights and what are our picks?
Winner Market
Sydney Sixers are the 7/2 favourites to defend last years title and to become the first Franchise to win three straight Big Bash's. Second in the betting is the other dominant team in the competition's history - the Perth Scorchers. The three-time winners are slightly larger priced at 4/1.
The Stars, Thunder and Hurricanes all are priced around the 5/1 - 7/1 mark whilst the Heat , Strikers and Renegades are the outsiders in the competition but still modestly priced between 9/1 and 12/1.
As you can tell from the odds the competition is extremely even and competitive and any team should be capable of beating another. I personally like the Perth Scorchers squad. Mitch Marsh showed what he can do with the bat in the recent T20 world cup and in Tymal Mills and Jhye Richardson they have express pace and cunning in the death bowling stages.
Man of the Tournament
For this one I like the look of Mitch Marsh(17/2) or Rashid Khan (12/1). Both players are in red hot form and showed how destructive they can be with the bat and ball. I'd probably go for Marsh in this market as he's more likely to reach the later stages of the competition.
Top run scorer
I can see Alex Hales having a massive tournament with the bat. He's currently 17/2 with Paddy Power and will be opening for the Sydney Thunder. He will have a massive point to prove after his recent role in the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal and will be looking to show he should have been included in the England T20 World Cup squad.
Top wicket taker
The top two in the betting are both leg spinners reflecting that bowling actions' dominance in the shorter format of the game. Adam Zampa is shortest in the betting at 15/2, closely followed by the aforementioned Rashid Khan (17/2). Khan is joined on that mark by Andrew Tye who possesses a fantastic change of pace in the opening/latter stages of the innings. I'm going to stick my neck out and stay with my man. Im taking the Afghani Khan to run riot down-under just like he did in the middle east.
You can follow all those selections at once using the link below. Please remember to gamble responsibly.
