The Melbourne gap, and leaderboard questions

The semi-finalists are decided, the regular season is done. But one glaring thing stands out as one Sydney team prepares to take on the Perth Scorchers on February 1, before the other Sydney side tackles the Adelaide Strikers the next day.

Namely that the Sydney teams finished first and second on the ladder, yet the Sixers will travel to play in Adelaide while the Thunder go to Perth. Last year it was the Sixers who made the long trip west for the final.

As this column tends to reflect, there is a lot to like about the WBBL. Administrators at Cricket Australia deserve credit. But there is room for improvement as the competition matures. This is one such problem: that women's finals are played as curtain-raisers to men's, so home advantage becomes luck of the draw.

Granted - if the two leagues have to coincide, it does make sense to pair Perth and Adelaide's MBBL teams with their WBBL counterparts, given both Sydney men's sides missed the finals. That's how to optimise crowds for the women's games.

But this rewards Perth Scorchers, who fluked into third spot, and Adelaide Strikers, who crashed to fourth with two late losses, while disadvantaging the two most consistent sides in the competition. Effectively it makes the WBBL ladder meaningless, except for whether you're in the top four or out of it.

Yes, doubleheaders have played a role in getting games on television, but surely the WBBL has reached a point where finals must be hosted on merit. That may cost more to televise, but it's a worthy investment.

That said, you can't shed too many tears for Sydney. One of the WBBL's other issues to address is the unequal distribution of talent. New South Wales has always had more cricketers and more international reps - see the state's dominance in 50-over cricket. So creating two teams in Sydney left both stacked with talent, and better able to attract the best overseas players.

The same can't be said for the nation's second-biggest city. Melbourne also had to form two teams, following the MBBL model, but lacked resources to support it. Gaps have been filled with players who can't match the level. The Renegades' dreary end to a formerly promising campaign means the Victorian capital is yet to deliver a team to a semi-final in three WBBL seasons. The Stars have never looked like it. Only once - the Thunder in WBBL02 - has a Sydney side missed the cut.

Scorchers and Brisbane Heat each rely on a couple of gun players, Strikers has been inconsistent forever, and a ragtag reality finally caught up with the Hobart Hurricanes after punching well above their weight the first two seasons. No Australian international player has yet suited up in purple for the Hurricanes.

The Sixers won last year's final at the WACA. Travel demands notwithstanding, two Harbour City teams chock-full of international talent mean the most likely scenario is that the trophy will head there for the third time. It's a power imbalance that should also be on CA's list to address.

What you can't dispute is the entertaining nature of the Sydney teams at play. Alyssa Healy provided the thrills in her last two regular-season games against the Strikers. Golden ducks, single-figure scores, and the Sixers suffering a couple of uncharacteristic losses - these had all been part of Healy's last few weeks. But she got her eye back in, and did so in prodigious style, giving Adelaide a lesson on what you really need to stay stop of the table.

The Strikers would have thought they were nearly home after Sophie Devine clubbed them to 149 for 5 with her 70 from 45 balls, but the sizeable target just liberated Healy. The Australian wicketkeeper nailed 106 from 66 balls, going through and over cover all day in a display of crisp timing. She added another 63 in their next game, chasing a more modest 112 to win.

A more surprising comeback was completed at the bowling end of the pitch. Former Australian representative Sarah Coyte retired from all cricket in February 2017 at the age of 25, after speaking candidly of her struggles with exhaustion and an eating disorder. It was a sobering reminder of the challenges that particularly face female athletes, as well as a brave offer of reassurance to others that they're not alone.

So it was heartening to hear that Coyte would return to the sport a year later, having in the meantime returned to her home and family in Sydney after a career in South Australia. When South Africa's Marizanne Kapp left the Sixers for national duty, the Sixers needed a seamer and Coyte had an opportunity.

She made the most of it. The accomplished lower-order striker wasn't required with the bat, but she returned brilliant figures of 2 for 14 from her full four overs while Adelaide went on the rampage, then backed up with 3 for 18 from four overs in the subsequent game. No one expected it a couple of weeks ago, but suddenly this returning prodigal could have a big say on finals.

All season it's been a contest as to who can be more erratic between Heat, Perth, and the Melbourne Renegades. Scorchers were the side that eventually got away with it, while Heat produced a perfectly 'Heat' mess. Needing to win both games against the Thunder, the Heat finally won without a huge score from opener Beth Mooney, chasing a hefty 145-5 thanks to Grace Harris and Delissa Kimmince.

Then with the door to finals open, they capitulated in a far easier chase of 118. An equation of 24 runs needed, 38 balls remaining, six wickets in hand - you don't lose those games. Or at least you don't get bowled out. Unless you're Heat, in which case you do.

Scorchers, on the other hand, managed to win their effective elimination final against the Renegades. Renegades had home advantage, and won the first match after chasing 125 with what for them was a relatively sanguine six wickets down and four balls to spare. Sophie Molineux made a career-high 62.

But the Renegades dropped the last, stumbling to 112 for 9 after Katherine Brunt monstered them with 3 for 11, becoming the season's top wicket-taker in the process. Her England teammate Natalie Sciver partly redeemed a quiet season with 39 runs to chase the score after Nicole Bolton and Elyse Villani were out cheaply. The Scorchers remain ever frustrating, but they live again.