The BBL 2025-26 season begins in Perth with a meeting of two of the competition’s best-known clubs. The five-time champions Perth Scorchers want to put an inconsistent previous season, when they finished fifth and missed the knockouts, behind them and chase a sixth title. Mitch Marsh, free of Test commitments, is set to open with New Zealand’s Finn Allen, who struck at 184.69 last season. Marsh is already the club’s second-highest run-scorer in BBL history.
Cooper Connolly and Ashton Turner, the team’s top scorers last year, anchor the middle order, and Laurie Evans returns after previously striking at 161 in that phase. Despite the departures of Jason Behrendorff and Andrew Tye, the pace attack looks strong. Jhye Richardson is fully fit after taking 35 powerplay wickets at 6.95 an over, and England’s David Payne steps in to fill the gap left by Behrendorff.
Sydney Sixers, with three titles and three runner-up finishes, have not won since BBL10. Josh Philippe should open with Babar Azam, who takes James Vince’s place. Steve Smith is out until after the Ashes, leaving No. 3 open, with Jack Edwards the leading contender. Moises Henriques and Jordan Silk keep their middle-order roles, and Lachlan Shaw is ahead of Hayden Kerr for No. 6. Ben Dwarshuis had a standout season last year and is a key figure again. Our preview backs the home side.