The 2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season or WBBL|04 was the fourth season of Women's Big Bash League, the semi-professional women'sTwenty20domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament ran from 1 December 2018 to 26 January 2019. Double-defending champions, the Sydney Sixers, ended the regular season on top of the ladder, while captainEllyse Perry broke the scoring record for a sole WBBL campaign and was named Player of the Tournament. In the two semi-finals at Drummoyne Oval on 19 January, the Brisbane Heat eliminated the Sydney Thunder before the Sydney Sixers knocked out the Melbourne Renegades. Both matches, notable for their "miracle" endings, were hailed as a showcase of "the irrefutable rise of women's cricket" and "sport with drama, skill and unpredictability – a potent recipe for success". In the final, also at Drummoyne Oval, the Heat caused an upset by defeating the Sixers with three wickets in hand and four balls remaining to claim their maiden title. Despite suffering from the flu and heat stroke, Beth Mooney managed to play a pivotal innings of 65 runs from 46 balls and was named Player of the Final.
Teams
Each squad featured 15 active players, with an allowance of up to five marquee signings including a maximum of three from overseas. Under a new rule, Australian marquees were classed as players who held a national women's team contract at the time of signing on for their WBBL|04 team. This, combined with the introduction of two-year contracts ahead of the previous season, meant that the Sydney Sixers would inadvertently exceed their marquee player limit in 2018–19. To address this inequity, an injured or unavailable Sixers marquee could only be replaced by a domestic player.
Points table
Win–loss table
Below is a summary of results for each team's fourteen regular season matches, plus finals where applicable, in chronological order. A team's opponent for any given match is listed above the margin of victory/defeat.
Player of the Tournament votes are awarded on a 3-2-1 basis by the two standing umpires at the conclusion of every match, meaning a player can receive a maximum of six votes per game.
Players under 21 years of age at the start of the season are eligible for the Young Gun Award. Weekly winners are selected over the course of the season by a panel of Cricket Australia officials based on match performance, on-field and off-field attitude, and their demonstration of skill, tenacity and good sportsmanship. Each weekly winner receives a $500 Rebel gift card and the overall winner receives a $5000 cash prize, as well as access to a learning and mentor program. Melbourne Renegades leg-spinnerGeorgia Wareham was named the Young Gun of WBBL|04 after claiming 11 wickets and finishing the regular season with the besteconomy rate in the league.
Attendance
A total of 135,861 fans attended WBBL|04—an average of 2,384 per match. This included some double-headers with men's BBL matches, such as the crowd of 14,983 reported for the match between Perth and Brisbane on Boxing Day played at Optus Stadium, and the crowd of 11,136 reported for the New Year's Day match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between the Stars and Renegades. A new record for the highest attendance at a standalone WBBL match was set on 5 January when the Brisbane Heat played the Adelaide Strikers at Harrup Park in front of 5,650 spectators. A total of 8,735 people attended the knockout stage of the tournament across two weekends at Drummoyne Oval, with all ticket proceeds donated to . The final was announced as a sellout and attracted a crowd of 5,368.
Audience
A total of twenty-three matches were televised on Seven Network and Fox Cricket The remaining 36 matches were live streamed on the as well as the for mobile. Below are the television ratings for every game that was broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket during the season. The semi-final super over between the Sixers and Renegades was watched by a combined average audience of 423,000. The final was the most-watched WBBL game ever with a combined average audience of 479,000 and peaking at 812,000. Cricket Australia reported over 3.8 million highlight views on their YouTube channel and almost 10 million minutes viewed on the Cricket Network's live stream, with a 38per cent rise of minutes viewed in Australia compared to the previous season.
Ellyse Perry
Sophie Devine