WBBL start moved to October 25 as tournament shifts to Sydney

The competition has been down-scaled from a six-city event and put back a week due to coronavirus restrictions, with all eight teams stationed at the Olympic Park

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The Women's Big Bash League has been delayed a week and moved entirely to Sydney due to coronavirus travel restrictions.

Movement between the six states is limited, leading to the decision to play the competition exclusively in New South Wales.

All eight teams and officials will be held at the Sydney Olympic Park for the duration of the sixth edition of the competition.

North Sydney Oval, Hurstville Oval, Drummoyne Oval, Showgrounds Stadium and Blacktown International Sports Park will host the 59 games.

The first round will see all eight teams in action on the opening day, headlined by the Melbourne and Sydney derbies.

Six cities were due to be used for the matches, which were due to start from October 17.

The tournament follows Australia and New Zealand's white-ball matches, which begin on September 26 and run until October 7.

"Today’s announcement of the changes to the rebel WBBL|06 fixture and the transformation of Sydney Olympic Park into the rebel WBBL Village sets the league up for another unforgettable season,” said BBL chief Alistair Dobson.

"Last season was the biggest in the history of the women’s game and now, following on from the Commonwealth Bank ODI and T20I series in Brisbane, we’ll get to see the stars of our world champion Australian team in action during rebel WBBL|06."

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