DETAILS of the fourth season of the Women’s Big Bash League have been released with the top cricket competition to kick off with a festival weekend and the finals to be stand-alone games for the first time.

The competition will run from December 1, 2018, until January 26, 2019, with the Sydney Sixers chasing a third straight crown.

“Giving the WBBL its own window for finals is an important step for the League as we look ahead to a stand-alone fixture in the 2019-20 season,” Cricket Australia’s Head of Big Bash Leagues, Kim McConnie, said.

Here’s a quick guide to the season ahead.

DATES
The opening weekend of the competition is December 1-2 and will feature every team in the comp. The final will be held on Australia Day, 2019.

Finals will be stand-alone, meaning teams will no longer play before and on the same ground as men’s BBL matches.

HOW IT WORKS
The WBBL will feature 56 regular season games which will be followed by two semi-finals and then the season decider.

The competition will boast more weekend games than in the past and regular season matches will be free of charge for fans.

HOW THE FINALS WORK
The WBBL finals will be stand-alone fixtures for the first time. This will ensure the top ranked team will have the right to host at their home stadium.

Both semi-finals will be played on December 18 at the one location and hosted by the top-ranked team

The final will be played the following weekend on January 26.

SPECIAL MATCHES
#The first match of the week two festival will see the Sydney Sixers take on the Perth Scorchers on December 7 in a rematch of the WBBL|02 and WBBL|03 Grand Final.

#A Sydney Smash’ fixture between the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder will be played on December 8.

#Hurstville Oval will also host two Sixers matches on December 23 and December 29, while the team will play in two double headers at the SCG on December 22 and 28.

#A Christmas Eve match will be played between the Sydney Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes at Spotless Stadium,

#The first WBBL night match at Optus Stadium will be played between the Perth Scorchers and Brisbane Heat.

#On New Year’s Eve the Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Sixers will clash at Adelaide Oval.

#The first Melbourne Derby will be played on December 29 at Marvel Stadium.

FESTIVAL WEEKENDS
The comp will open with a festival weekend from December 1-2 in Melbourne.

A second festival weekend will be held from December 7-9 which will feature eight matches across four locations. This will include four games played at North Sydney Oval and two matches in Burnie, Tasmania.

A third festival weekend will run from December 15-16 with four matches to be played at Blundstone Arena, two matches at Casey Fields, and a single match at a venue yet to be revealed.

TV
FOX SPORTS will broadcast 23 matches.

All four matches on the opening weekend will be broadcast live on FOX SPORTS.

THE CLUBS
Eights clubs will compete in the upcoming competition.

Adelaide Strikers

Brisbane Heat

Hobart Hurricanes

Melbourne Renegades

Melbourne Stars

Perth Scorchers

Sydney Sixers

Sydney Thunder