Australia's Big Bash League swapped the coin toss for flipping a cricket bat
From the 2018–19 season, captains in Australia's Big Bash League stopped tossing a coin and started flipping a bat to decide who bowled first. It was one of many experiments in a Twenty20 league that has tinkered constantly with its rules, its schedule and even the idea of playing on Christmas Day.
The league grew out of worry. After England launched its T20 competition in 2003 and teenage interest in Australian cricket seemed to be slipping, Cricket Australia started a state-based Twenty20 Big Bash in 2005–06 with six teams. In July 2011 it replaced that with the Big Bash League, built around eight city franchises: one per state capital, plus a second in both Sydney and Melbourne. Even the trophy was chosen by public vote, from three designs by Australian designers, unveiled in December 2011. By 2016–17 it was one of only two T20 leagues, alongside India's, in the world's top ten domestic sports leagues by average attendance.
The schedule has stretched and shrunk. The first season had 28 group games, and by 2018–19 every team played every other twice, for 56 regular matches. That eventually felt bloated, and from 2023–24 the regular season was cut back to 40 games. Rules came and went too. A 2020–21 package added the Power Surge, a two-over second powerplay; an X-Factor substitute who could come on after the tenth over; and a Bash Boost bonus point. Two seasons later only the Power Surge survived, joined by one video review per innings.
Expansion talk never quite stops. Plans for regional teams in places like Newcastle, Geelong and the Gold Coast stalled for lack of proper grounds, and New Zealand coaches such as Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori have backed a trans-Tasman version. Canberra's government offered in 2024 to fund a team at Manuka Oval, and a 2025 consultancy review prompted Cricket Australia's chief to float New Zealand again.
On the field, the Perth Scorchers dominate, with six titles after beating the Sydney Sixers in the 2025–26 final. A women's league began in 2015–16, won first by the Sydney Thunder.
Source: Big Bash League
