Women's Big Bash League 2015-16

[Ike]

Wow, two great matches to start off the WBBL, and not even a thread here. I was hoping there'd be an official one, and stickied. Oh well.

Heck, this is by default the biggest and best women's tournament ever, with all the best Aussie players and most of the best of the rest of the world.

I have a question especially for the Aussie members of the forum: is there any radio coverage of the WBBL? Probably not streamed world-wide even if there is, but I can always hope, lol.

Right now I'm reduced to something I've never done before: I stream the cricket.au live scorecard to my TV and sit and watch a silent (but exciting) scorecard.

Btw, the Adelaide Strikers added two contract players today, to become the last team to fill their 14-man roster. But teams can have more: up to three (non-playing) 'rookie' players (developmental, associate, and community), and they can also split a slot between two players (typically international stars not available for the whole 2-month tourney).

I'll leave other discussions of the WBBL to other posters, but what a debut for tennis star Ashleigh Barty!

 

[Dan]

I don't think there's any coverage whatsoever. Some of the later games (double-headers with the BBL) will be on Australian TV though, so you might be able to access that somehow.

Really disappointing that there's no CA stream or anything.

 

[Ike]

Thanks. I've been bugging Willow TV to pick up the 8 women's matches for the U.S., but no luck so far. Pity there's no local radio. I can sometimes get England non-televised matches that way, would have thought cricket-loving Australia would have some radio broadcasts too. At least there are the live scorecards on cricket Australia... that's more than cricinfo does.

 

[Ike]

Guess I my just have to post to myself here. A pity there's not more interest in the WBBL. My fav (well, one of two, along with Dottin) dominated the Sydney derby. Love to see the Windies ladies do well. Was disappointed in the Sixers though, expected them to put up a lot more fight with that lineup batting. Apparently, this is the first BBL Thunder derby victory over the Sixers... the Thunder better start supporting their women's team big time!

 

[cnerd123]

Barely even follow the IPL now, but would love to check out clips/highlights of these games.

 

[Dan]

Lanning has had a hell of a start too; 90 then 75* for the Stars.

NSW seem to be a bit out of form at the moment. First the WNCL final loss to South Australia, now the Sixers (who have always been the SCG Establishment team) going down to their cousins the Thunder. Pretty awesome to see other teams starting to stack up against them. Genuinely exciting time for women's cricket in Australia.

Ike, I suggest following Izzy Westbury on Twitter for updates. She seems to be doing a lot of the freelance stuff for cricket.com.au at the moment, and is always keeping on top of things.

 

[cnerd123]

I saw the clip of Manning getting dismissed edging the ball into the keeper's head (Healy is her name iirc) and the rebound being caught by the fielder at cover.

That looked painful.

 

[Ike]

Yes, Lanning was amazing too, and that was no surprise either. And thanks for the tip about Izzy Westbury.

 

[Ike]

What a fourth match, coming down to the last ball (4 runs required), after the Heat had seemed to have no hope. They came up short, but the Scorchers certainly looked vulnerable on this day. As I would expect to be the rule rather than the exception, bowling dominated on both sides, with Holly Ferling, after two disappointing matches to start (3-0-35-0 combined), had a beautiful analysis, 3-0-8-4. And Brunt responded almost as well, 4-0-17-4. Plus I was able to follow the match (along with the two tests on television: talk about a surfeit of cricket!) not only with the live scorecard on cricket Australia, but on a local Perth radio station which streamed world wide. I don't think I'm alllowed to give a url here, but the station name is 91.3 SportFM. Looks like they will broadcast/stream all the Perth matches. Haven't found anything comparable for any of the other cities yet.

Really want to follow Hayley Matthews in the second match today, but alas it starts at 3am here, and I'll almost certainly be asleep.

 

[Dan]

If the radio stream is legal, the link is fine.

 

[Ike]

Ah, thanks for the clarification. The home link is 91.3 SportFM Perth - Sports Radio Broadcasts/Programs, Online Internet Streaming & Podcast Downloads , then click on "listen live online". The main page lists all special programs and their (local) times, including the Scorchers Women matches broadcasts.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Subscribed.

 

[Ike]

The outstanding performance yesterday (and for the tournament so far) was obviously Grace Harris's ton plus a 4 haul. However, the most amazing result was probably the Hurricane's win in spite of 4 ducks, 3 of them golden.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Bris making easy work today again

 

[Ike]

Another amazing weekend for the WBBL, highlighted by Grace Harris's all rounder performance for the ages, with a ton and 4-wicket haul against the Sixers. I've submitted a question to Ask Steven about how that stacks up against other T20 all rounder achievements, women's and men's.

 

[Ike]

Great article on Grace Harris:

Saying Grace: Heats' Harris lights up WBBL | Big Bash League BBL

 

[NUFAN]

Hey Ike, you can probably find some sort of stream for today's match between Brisbane and Adelaide which is being shown live on normal TV here in Australia.

 

[Jono]

cool that this is live on CH 10

 

[NUFAN]

Ohh ah Tahlia McGrath

 

[Ike]

Hey Ike, you can probably find some sort of stream for today's match between Brisbane and Adelaide which is being shown live on normal TV here in Australia.

alas, there's no TV or live streaming here in the U.S. Willow TV has the BBL matches, but for whatever reason (I bugged them enough, certainly), they didn't pick up the WBBL televised matches. Can't believe they would have cost much. ESPN3 doesn't have it either, and those are the only US options. Cricket.au has a live streaming option if you buy a pass, but you're not eligible if you're from the US (or anywhere but Australia, I think). At least I hear the Perth Women's matches live from streaming of a local (Perth) radio station. And I track the rest on the cricket.au live scorecard.