Women’s Cricket 2023: WBBL schedule in firing line after Australia suffer rare Test defeat

After Australia suffered their first ever Test defeat to India, there is a push towards re-shaping the summer schedule – with the Women’s Big Bash League in the firing line.

Australian cricket authorities will look at replacing some Women’s Big Bash League matches next season with a domestic red-ball competition in a bid to ensure the top Aussie women are better prepared for increased Test commitments in coming years.

While the Aussies have gradually played more Tests in recent years, matches in the game’s longest format have been restricted to one-off events as part of multi-format series and tours.

But after her side crashed to defeat in India earlier in the month, Australian captain Alyssa Healy said she wanted more women’s Tests to be played.

Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley then told SEN that three-Test series should be considered for marquee women’s series.

However as more women’s Tests are planned, there remains a dearth of red-ball cricket played at levels below.

Australia suffered a rare Test defeat this week, going down for the first time to India. Picture: Getty

There is no domestic red-ball competition, with the occasional tour match proving about the only non-Test match preparation for the longer format.

But with cricket split over whether the WBBL should drop back from 14 matches per team in the regular season to 10 per side like the men’s competition, Australian Cricketers’ Association chief Todd Greenberg suggested that multi-day games could fill the breach.

“I’d like to think there is because if you’re going to play more Test cricket for women, you want to make sure that the level below that as an opportunity,” Greenberg told this masthead.

“There’s some discussions about what the WBBL looks like in the future, and then number of games. So if we were to reduce those games, maybe we can replace them with some longer-form content of some of our girls. I think that’d be really well received.

The Adelaide Strikers celebrate winning this year’s WBBL title. Picture: Getty

“So I think those are the sort of conversations we’ll have at the end of this season. But you know, the broad message is if we’re going to have aspirations for our girls to play more red-ball cricket, which we’ve been saying for a long time, we’ve got to make sure the steps underneath that are ready to build those next level of players.

“We’ve got to make sure that we ensure that the systems and pathways in women’s cricket are equally as advanced (as the men’s).”

Former Australian skipper Meg Lanning is among those who are proponents to cut the length of the WBBL season, which is increasingly under threat from other short-form women’s leagues sprouting around the world.

“I think a lot of people’s first reaction is if you go to less games then you’re cutting back and it’s going backwards, but for me, it’s the opposite – I think it actually would create a really good quality competition and (there would be) no room for error in terms of playing and you’d attract the best players, and then the game is better to watch and better to play in,” Lanning said in October.

Ashleigh Gardner is on board with a shift in the WBBL schedule. Picture: Getty

Star Aussie all-rounder Ash Gardner agrees.

“Ten round games with finals is probably ideal,” Gardner says.

“If you ask an international player, they’re probably going to give you a different response to a domestic player. Obviously as international cricketers our schedule is pretty full on. So I think we would like for it to be shortened.

“But in saying that, I think from a domestic point of view, they need to then have something that substitutes. So whether that’s like a – go up to Darwin or something in June or July and play like a round robin T20 League, like they’re doing up in Brisbane with T20 Max.

“Something like that, which then substitutes those games. I think that would be the only option if they were to take games out of the Big Bash.”

Originally published as Women’s Cricket 2023: WBBL schedule in firing line after Australia suffer rare Test defeat