2012–13 Big Bash League season

The 2012–13 Big Bash League season or BBL|02 was the second season of the Big Bash League, the premier Twenty20 cricket competition in Australia. The tournament began on 7 December 2012, with the final being held on 19 January 2013.

The defending champions, Sydney Sixers were knocked out in the group stage. Melbourne Renegades finished first in the group stage with 7 wins and a loss. Perth Scorchers, Melbourne Stars and Brisbane Heat were the other teams to reach the semi-finals.

In the first semi-final, Brisbane Heat defeated Melbourne Renegades by 15 runs to make it to the finals of the Big Bash League for the first time. In the other semi-final, Perth Scorchers defeated Melbourne Stars by 8 wickets in a rain curtailed match to make it to the finals for the second time in a row. Melbourne Stars failed to advance to the final for the second successive year.

In the final, Brisbane Heat beat Perth Scorchers by 34 runs to lift their first Big Bash League title. Perth Scorchers finished runners-up for the second successive year.

Aaron Finch of Melbourne Renegades was named Player of the tournament for scoring 332 runs in the tournament including an unbeaten century. Shaun Marsh of Perth Scorchers finished as the leading run-getter of the tournament as he amassed 412 runs in 9 innings. Ben Laughlin of Hobart Hurricanes was the leading wicket-taker of the tournament. He took 14 wickets in 8 matches.

The highest individual score of the tournament was 112* by Luke Pomersbach of Brisbane Heat in the semi-final game against Melbourne Renegades. Lasith Malinga took the best bowling figures of the tournament, capturing 6 wickets for 7 runs for Melbourne Stars against Perth Scorchers. This was the best bowling figures in Twenty20 cricket of Malinga's career and also the best bowling in a Twenty20 game on Australian soil.

The two finalists, Perth Scorchers and Brisbane Heat qualified for the 2013 Champions League Twenty20.

Format
This season featured the same number of teams as the previous season but included a new format with an expanded group stage. This new format consists of 35 matches. The new group stage has each team play eight matches, two of which are against the same team. The four best performing teams from the group stage advance to the knockout stage.

The rules for the tournament deviate from those in the laws of cricket where any no-ball will be followed by a free hit.

Signings
The official Player Signing Window opened on 9 July 2012 and closed on 20 July 2012. Each team had a salary cap of A$1 million and could sign up to a maximum of 18 players, but no fewer than 14, including two international players. The minimum playing contract was set at A$20,000.

Unlike the 2011/12 inaugural season, Cricket Australia decided that each player had the opportunity to sign multi-year deals with the contract window opening on 9 July 2012 and ending on 20 July.

<!-- 9 July: Daniel Vettori became the first overseas signing as he was retained by Brisbane Heat.

10 July: Brad Hogg, Alister McDermott, Aaron Finch and Travis Birt were retained by their last edition's franchises, while Aiden Blizzard became the first player to be transferred between the franchises (from Adelaide Strikers to Hobart Hurricanes).

11 July: Michael Hussey, Simon Katich and Marcus North have been retained by Perth Scorchers. Nathan Hauritz have also been retained by Brisbane Heat, while Johan Botha - who has been named as South Australia's captain earlier has been confirmed to lead Adelaide Strikers as well.

12 July: Scorchers ensured the services of dynamic duo of Mitchell Marsh and Pat Cummins. Hurricanes signed Michael Hogan, successful last year’s overseas import Owais Shah as well as Bun Dunk from Sydney Thunders. Renegades pair of Brad Hodge and Glenn Maxwell have been signed by their city-rivals Melbourne Stars ahead of any other player as their first signings. Daniel Christian has also been retained by Brisbane Heat while Kane Richardson and Gary Putland are also continuing with Adelaide Strikers.

13 July: Biggest signing of the day was Muttiah Muralitharan by Renegades, which becomes more interesting in the context of Warne having played for Renegades cross-town rivals in the last season. Other notable signings included Shaun Tait moving back to his home team - Adelaide Strikers, Ryan Harris retained by Brisbane Heat while Herschelle Gibbs and Shaun Marsh re-signed by Scorchers.

20 July: Sunil Narine signs with the Sydney Sixers, Kemar Roach will play for the Brisbane Heat and Kieron Pollard will turn out for the Adelaide Strikers.

23 July: Shahid Afridi signs with the Sydney Thunder.

16 August: Jamaican sprint pair Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt revealed they are both in talks to potentially star in the league, however no formal agreement had been met. However after the end of the 2012 Olympic Games, famous Jamaican athletes Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake expressed their wishes to play in the 2012-13 Big Bash League edition. Veteran leg spinner Shane Warne was quoted it as saying in Herald Sun.

23 October: West Indian International Marlon Samuels signs with the Melbourne Renegades. Australian ODI Captain Michael Clarke, Kiwi opening batsman Martin Guptill and English wicket-keeper Matt Prior joins Sydney Thunders.

6 November: Sydney Sixers, the reigning Champions League and Big Bash League trophy holders, have bolstered their squad for this summer by signing the Pakistani batsman Umar Akmal.

7 November: Adelaide Strikers sign Saeed Ajmal. Pakistan spinner available for first game and later phases.

15 November: Pakistan Cricket Board has denied Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi permission to play this season's Big Bash League, to ensure the trio's participation in their domestic Twenty20 tournament Faysal Bank T20 Cup.

19 November: Pakistan Cricket Board has granted Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal permission to play a few games at this season's Big Bash League, on the request of Cricket Australia.

19 November: Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan allrounder, has said he will not play for Sydney Thunder despite being given permission by Pakistan Cricket Board to take part in Big Bash League. Afridi said he wanted to play in Pakistan's domestic Twenty20 tournament Faysal Bank T20 Cup instead and that clashes with Big Bash League.

20 November: Sydney Sixers terminated Umar Akmal's contract. Sixers were unhappy to have Akmal's original three-game stint cut to one and are now looking elsewhere. Adelaide Strikers are intended to call on Saeed Ajmal for only the first game of the tournament and then regain him for the final stages. -->

League progression

 * Note: The total points at the end of each group match are listed.
 * Note: Click on the points (group matches) or W/L (knockout) to see the summary for the match.

Fixtures

 * Times shown are in Australian Western Standard Time (UTC+08) for Perth, Australian Central Daylight Time (UTC+10:30) for Adelaide, Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10:00) for Brisbane and Australian Eastern Daylight Time (UTC+11:00) for all remaining venues.

Highest team totals
The following table lists the five highest team scores during this season. Last Updated 15 January 2013.

Most runs
The top five highest run scorers (total runs) in the season are included in this table. Last Updated 19 January 2013.

Highest individual scores
This table contains the top five highest scores of the season made by a batsman in a single innings. Last Updated 15 January 2013.

Most wickets
The following table contains the five leading wicket-takers of the season. Last Updated 19 January 2013.

Best bowling figures
This table lists the top five players with the best bowling figures in the season. Last Updated 4 January 2013.

Hat-tricks
This table lists the hat-tricks taken in the season.