Christmas Eve and Australia Day cricket returns as BBL schedule is unveiled

[p]The upcoming season will follow the same 44-game format of 2025/26, which sees eight teams fight for four spots in the finals, which use the same format as the Indian Premier League.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/big-bash-league-season-opener-to-be-played-in-india/O6wQzhng/"]As previously reported[/a], the tournament will begin outside of Australia for the first time in its 16-year history when the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/melbourne-stars/MPk7NTBN/"]Melbourne[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/melbourne-renegades/rZj3O9dH/"]Renegades[/a] 'host' the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/perth-scorchers/UgkXNmRT/"]Perth[/a] Scorchers nearly 9,000 kilometres away in Chennai, India. [/p][p]With the exception of Chennai, the league has for the most part largely moved away from taking matches to regional and other secondary venues, with the majority of matches to take place at international-quality venues. [/p][p]As usual, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sydney-thunder/xQwjriCo/"]Sydney Thunder[/a] will send two of their five home games to Manuka Oval in Canberra, continuing a partnership with the national capital that first began in 2018/19, whilst the Sixers will also attempt to establish a foothold in the capital when they host [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/adelaide/QX6eSBCb/"]Adelaide Strikers[/a] at Manuka Oval on the evening of Sunday 3 January instead of Coffs Harbour.[/p][p]Melbourne's 8,000-capacity Junction Oval will be the venue for three matches in 2026/27 - two Renegades and one Stars home game - thanks to broadcast-quality floodlights being installed over the winter break.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/cricket-ipl-melbourne-renegades-abandon-marvel-stadium-and-geelong-ahead-of-major-bbl-change/QJDLn4BM/"]The Renegades announced last Friday[/a] that they have abandoned both Marvel Stadium and Geelong's GMHBA Stadium, with their five home games to be spread across Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium (one), Junction Oval (two) and the MCG (two). [/p][p]One of the two Junction Oval matches will take place on Christmas Eve against the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hobart/0A1bPksB/"]Hobart Hurricanes[/a], who had themselves hosted four Christmas Eve fixtures between 2018/19 and 2022/23.[/p][embed guid="dfa05026-e4be-47c7-a081-f529f4e7b9b7" url="https://x.com/BBL/status/2076819021593473272" social-type="twitter" /][p]The presence of cricket over the Christmas period has been a sticky point between administrators and players, with Cricket Australia currently not having plans to emulate the popular annual Christmas Day match hosted by NBL franchise [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sydney-sixers/W2yaJ7Zp/"]Sydney Kings[/a]. [/p][p]The 75-minute flight between Melbourne and Hobart will at least allow the Hurricanes' players to return home early on the morning of December 25 to spend the day with family and friends. [/p][p]Hobart Hurricanes will take one of their five home games to Launceston's UTAS Stadium, which is undergoing a renovation to increase its capacity to 17,000 by September 2027. [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brisbane-heat/Kf6aRVR4/"]Brisbane[/a] Heat (Gabba), Perth Scorchers (Optus Stadium) and Adelaide Strikers (Adelaide Oval) will play all of their home games at their primary venue, with Gold Coast's People First Stadium missing out entirely.[/p][p]The other major change to the BBL calendar for 2026/27 sees the return of cricket on the Australia Day public holiday, which last saw Big Bash cricket in 2022. [/p][p]Australia Day cricket was a long-standing tradition prior to the Covid pandemic, at the same time when the annual event was drawn into the wider cultural debate surrounding celebrations on January 26. [/p][p]With Christmas Day as the only exception, the schedule will see wall-to-wall Big Bash cricket played every single night from the season's second match on Tuesday 15 December right through to the conclusion of the regular season on Sunday 17 January, including double-headers on Boxing Day, New Year's Day and the final weekend of the home and away season. [/p][image alt="Full 2026/27 BBL schedule" id="3239ef73-aa67-4c54-beeb-3b7596729aef" credit-line="Courtesy: Cricket Australia" guid="691e2cc6-920d-4c2b-9864-5a02a1aa9ad0" original-width="1628" original-height="912" /][p][i]This is a developing story. More to come...[/i][/p][infobox id="d39bc573-b9dd-4b87-acb9-2de1f22d36c7" /]