Women's Big Bash League relocates to Tasmania amid COVID border closures

Venues for the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL 2021) will witness some changes due to border closures caused by the recent COVID-19 outbreak in some Australian cities, including Sydney. The first 20 matches of the tournament will now be played in Tasmania. As per a report from Cricket.com.au, the tournament will go ahead as per the WBBL 2021 schedule, but the Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars will play their matches at Hobart's Blundstone Arena instead of North Sydney Oval.

Players from all the eight WBBL teams will travel to Tasmania, with the matches set to be played across three venues -- Launceston's University of Tasmania Stadium, Invermay Park and Blundstone Arena. The report stated that the changes were forced to be made due to the ongoing border closures which restricted the movements out of New South Wales and Victoria impacting the first 20 matches of the Women's Big Bash League. WBBL players based in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra will be required to complete a hard quarantine for a fortnight ahead of the opening matches.

As per the original schedule which was released back in July the opening matches were to be played at North Sydney Oval followed by midweek matches at Blacktown International Sportspark and the second weekend of matches in Moe and Perth, before midweek matches in Launceston. As per the schedule, the matches were scheduled to be played across six states throughout the season. However, the plan could see some changes with the difficulties in moving around the country likely to bring further changes in the schedule.

WBBL 2021 schedule

As per the original WBBL fixtures, the league will have its usually 59 game format and will be taken back to the fans around the country with the matches to return to metro and regional venues in all six states as the schedule reverts to its national, festival-based structure after the WBBL season six was played entirely in a biosecure hub in Sydney.

A three-game, top four Finals series remains. The Finals series matches will be played on November 23 and November 24 with the final itself scheduled to take place following the first day of the historic men's Test between Australia and Afghanistan in Hobart. However, there is a sense of uncertainty about the Australia men's Test against Afghanistan, scheduled to begin on November 27, after Cricket Australia said it would not host the game if the Taliban government did not support women's cricket. A record 47 matches are to be broadcasted nationally on television this year, almost a five-fold increase since the league's inception seven years ago.