2016–17 Women's Big Bash League season
The 2016–17 Women's Big Bash League season or WBBL|02 was the second season of the Women's Big Bash League, the semi-professional women's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament ran from 10 December 2016 to 28 January 2017.
The Sydney Sixers finished the round-robin stage of the tournament in first place and, despite a late-season injury to captain Ellyse Perry, went on to claim their maiden championship. In the final, held at the WACA, Sydney defeated the Perth Scorchers by seven runs in a "veritable classic". Sixers medium-pace bowler Sarah Aley was named Player of the Final, managing figures of 4/23 in the decider and also clinching the title of WBBL|02 leading wicket-taker.
Brisbane Heat wicket-keeper Beth Mooney was named Player of the Tournament, while Melbourne Stars captain Meg Lanning topped the leading run-scorer table for the second-straight season.
Teams
Each squad featured 15 active players, with an allowance of up to five marquee signings including a maximum of three from overseas. Australian marquees were defined as players who made at least ten limited-overs appearances for the national team between 1 July 2013 and 1 July 2016.The table below lists each team's marquee players and other key details for the season.
| Team | Home ground | Secondary grounds | Coach | Captain | Australian representatives | Overseas marquee players |
| Adelaide Strikers | Adelaide Oval | Gliderol Stadium | Andrea McCauley | Tegan McPharlin | Sarah Coyte Megan Schutt Sarah Elliott Tahlia McGrath Shelley Nitschke | Tammy Beaumont Sophie Devine |
| Brisbane Heat | Allan Border Field | The Gabba | Andy Richards | Holly Ferling Jess Jonassen Beth Mooney Delissa Kimmince | Deandra Dottin Smriti Mandhana Lauren Winfield | |
| Hobart Hurricanes | Blundstone Arena | UTAS Stadium | Julia Price | Heather Knight | Julie Hunter | Heather Knight Hayley Matthews Isobel Joyce |
| Melbourne Renegades | Etihad Stadium | Queen Elizabeth Oval | Lachlan Stevens | Rachel Priest | Grace Harris Kris Britt | Rachel Priest Lea Tahuhu Danielle Wyatt |
| Melbourne Stars | Casey Fields Toorak Park | David Hemp | Meg Lanning | Kristen Beams Jess Cameron Meg Lanning | Morna Nielsen Nat Sciver Danielle Hazell | |
| Perth Scorchers | WACA Ground | Lilac Hill Park | Lisa Keightley | Suzie Bates | Nicole Bolton Elyse Villani Lauren Ebsary | Suzie Bates Katherine Brunt Anya Shrubsole |
| Sydney Sixers | North Sydney Oval | Hurstville Oval Sydney Cricket Ground Drummoyne Oval | Ben Sawyer | Ellyse Perry | Alyssa Healy Ellyse Perry Lisa Sthalekar | Marizanne Kapp Sara McGlashan Dane van Niekerk Amy Jones |
| Sydney Thunder | Blacktown ISP Oval | Howell Oval Lavington Sports Ground North Sydney Oval Spotless Stadium | Alex Blackwell | Alex Blackwell Rene Farrell Erin Osborne Lauren Cheatle Rachael Haynes Naomi Stalenberg | Harmanpreet Kaur Stafanie Taylor |
Personnel changes
Local players
The table below lists local player movements made ahead of the season.Overseas players
The table below lists changes to overseas marquee allocations made ahead of the season.| Player | Departed | → | Joined | Notes | Ref |
| Charlotte Edwards | Perth Scorchers | → | Adelaide Strikers | ||
| Sarah Taylor | Adelaide Strikers | → | – | ||
| Tammy Beaumont | – | → | Adelaide Strikers | ||
| Stacy-Ann King | Adelaide Strikers | → | – | ||
| Smriti Mandhana | – | → | Brisbane Heat | ||
| Deandra Dottin | Perth Scorchers | → | Brisbane Heat | ||
| Lauren Winfield | Brisbane Heat | → | – | Returned to the Brisbane Heat as a replacement player during the season | |
| Kate Cross | Brisbane Heat | → | – | ||
| Lea Tahuhu | – | → | Melbourne Renegades | ||
| Shabnim Ismail | Melbourne Renegades | → | – | ||
| Dane van Niekerk | Melbourne Renegades | → | Sydney Sixers | ||
| Mignon du Preez | Melbourne Stars | → | – | ||
| Hayley Jensen | Melbourne Stars | → | – |
| |
| Anya Shrubsole | – | → | Perth Scorchers | ||
| Laura Marsh | Sydney Sixers | → | – | ||
| Harmanpreet Kaur | – | → | Sydney Thunder |
- England marquee Lauren Winfield returned to the Brisbane Heat as a replacement player.
- Ireland marquee Isobel Joyce signed with the Hobart Hurricanes as a replacement player.
- England marquee Danielle Hazell signed with the Melbourne Stars as a replacement player.
- England marquee Rebecca Grundy signed with the Perth Scorchers as a replacement player.
- England marquee Amy Jones signed with the Sydney Sixers as a replacement player.
Leadership
- Tegan McPharlin was appointed captain of the Adelaide Strikers, replacing Lauren Ebsary.
- Rachel Priest was appointed captain of the Melbourne Renegades, replacing Sarah Elliott.
- Suzie Bates was appointed captain of the Perth Scorchers, replacing Nicole Bolton.
- Kirby Short assumed the captaincy of the Brisbane Heat, replacing Delissa Kimmince.
- Kristen Beams stood in as acting captain of the Melbourne Stars for one game, replacing Meg Lanning who was sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Points table
Win–loss table
Below is a summary of results for each team's fourteen regular season matches, plus finals where applicable, in chronological order. A team's opponent for any given match is listed above the margin of victory/defeat.| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | SF | F | |
| ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | X | X | 8th | ||||||||||
| ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | X | 3rd | ||||||||
| ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | X | 4th | ||||||||
| ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | X | X | 7th | |||||||||
| ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | X | X | 5th | ||||||||
| ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | 2nd | ||||||||
| ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | 1st ' | ||||||
| ' | ' | ' | ' | ' | X | X | 6th |
Fixtures
Format of the group stage was a double round-robin tournament, with teams playing each other twice. Some matches were played in neutral cities as a result of occasional carnival weekends where as many as all eight teams were scheduled at the same venue. There were 14 double header fixtures with the men's Big Bash League, and the semi-finals and final were also played as a double header.Week 1
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Week 2
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Week 3
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