The Big Bash League is an Australian professional club Twenty20 cricket league that was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia. It is also known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, and it is frequently abbreviated to BBL or Big Bash.
Marcus Stoinis and Joe Burns are in the selection fray for the Melbourne Stars’ BBL opener despite testing positive for COVID-19. The KFC Twenty20 Big Bash has been superseded by the Big Bash League, which now features eight franchises based in cities rather than the six state teams that participated in the previous competition.
Since its inception, KFC, a fast food chain, has sponsored the competition. Along with the Indian Premier League, it ranks among the top ten domestic sports leagues in terms of average attendance.
It is one of the two T20 cricket leagues. The Perth Scorchers defeated the Sydney Sixers by 79 runs in the final to win BBL 11 in 2021 and 2022.
Despite not fully recovering from a COVID-19 infection, Australian players Marcus Stoinis and Joe Burns are still eligible to play in the Melbourne Stars’ opening Big Bash League (BBL) 2022-23 game on December 13.
Before the Melbourne Stars’ season-opening game, Marcus Stoinis and Joe Burns contracted Covid-19, but they could still play.
During the recent T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, the rules explicitly stated that infected players are eligible for selection, with the final decision up to the medical staff of the team.
The team has yet to decide whether to use Burns or Stoinis in the tournament’s opening game, according to reports.
When Adam Zampa contracted the virus midway through the T20 World Cup in 2022, Australia faced a similar dilemma. The management ultimately decided to replace the leg-spinner with Ashton Agar for their Super 12 stage matchup with Sri Lanka, despite the fact that the leg-spinner was still eligible to participate.
Numerous franchises’ camps were plagued by recurrent COVID-19 infections during the previous BBL season. The tournament’s final stage had to be moved to a few different locations due to the rising number of cases in the country.
Melbourne Stars will take on Sydney Thunder to kick-start BBL 12
The BBL’s upcoming 12th season will begin with Melbourne Stars vs. Sydney Thunder. The BBL’s draft system, which replaced the previous independent negotiation system, will allow franchises to select overseas players in a systematic manner.
The introduction of several other franchise T20 leagues, such as SA20 and ILT20, which will begin in early 2023, puts a lot of pressure on Australia’s premier T20 league.
During the national team’s current home season, the Sydney-based franchises, the Sydney Sixers and the Sydney Thunder have been able to sign Steve Smith and David Warner, respectively.
Zampa-led Melbourne Stars, three-time champions, will face Jason Sangha-led Sydney Thunder to officially kick off the 12th tournament.
On Tuesday, December 13, the competition is scheduled to take place at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.