Aaron Finch will lead Melbourne side
Not fantastic. They’ve tasted the knockout rounds once, with their semi-final appearance in BBL|02, but other than that they’ve finished 7th, 6th, 6th, 5th, 5th.
Coach: Andrew McDonald. Former allrounder McDonald was the inaugural Renegades skipper in the BBL|01.
He’s got lots of T20 experience having played in the IPL, BBL for the Renegades, the Strikers and the Thunder.
The Victorian also coached at Leicestershire, whom he joined in 2015 with the club having finished winless at the bottom of Division 2, two seasons on the bounce. Performances improved drastically under McDonald as Leicestershire registered four wins in his first season.
Skipper: Aaron Finch. Finch is a mainstay in the Aussie T20 and one-day sides, his record in limited-overs cricket is nothing short of remarkable.Finch has made 1,561 Big Bash runs and he also boasts the world record for most runs in a single T20I innings- 156 from 63 balls v England in 2013.
The Renegades have signed Kane Richardson and Tim Ludeman from the Strikers in return for Peter Siddle .
Richardson is a fan favourite fast bowler thanks to his instantly recognisable beard; he’s taken 37 wickets in 35 matches in the Big Bash. His impressive ODI performances in the summer (seven wickets in three matches) saw him sign a five-year deal in Melbourne.
Ludeman is a big-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman who in the BBL|04 notched the equal fastest half-century in just 18 balls for the Strikers.
As well as skipper Finch, and with Siddle gone, a lot rests on a West Indian duo in Melbourne.
Allrounder Dwayne Bravo brings a massive amount of experience to the Renegades, having captained the West Indies in all three formats of the game.
In the last few years though, it’s almost exclusively T20 that Bravo has appeared in. One of the few players in world cricket to have amassed over 200 wickets and 3,000 runs in 20-over cricket, Bravo will have to match Finch run for run if Melbourne are to have a chance.
Fellow West Indian Sunil Narine was due to spend the season with the Renegades, but has had to withdraw for personal reasons.
Melbourne have not let the loss wind them though, as they’ve acquired Afghan bowler Mohammad Nabi for the beginning of the season, who will himself be replaced by West Indies powerhouse Keiron Pollard for the remainder of the season.
Coach McDonald was disappointed to be missing out on Narine, who is currently ranked as the No.6 T20 bowler in the world. But he praised the importance of all rounders like Nabi and Pollard.
“We wish Sunil all the best. At short notice we are pleased that we’ve been able to secure players of Mohammad and Kieron’s quality who will be important contributors this season for us,” he said.
The Docklands Stadium (currently known as the Etihad Stadium) has a capacity of 53,359.
Obviously competition is fierce between the Renegades and rival Melbourne side the Stars, who play at the 100,000 capacity MCG. In the BBL|03, though, the Renegades did manage a higher average attendance than their local rivals.
If Finch, Bravo and Narine can provide some fireworks then the Renegades could certainly see the Etihad packed out.
Considering their poor history, surprisingly good.
The bookies have the Renegades as joint third favourites for the title this year, behind the mighty Perth Scorchers, and then local rivals the Melbourne Stars in second.
Aaron Finch*, Dwayne Bravo, Tom Cooper, Marcus Harris, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Jon Holland, Tim Ludeman, Joe Mennie, Mohammad Nabi, Kieron Pollard, Kane Richardson, Matt Short, Will Sutherland, Chris Tremain, Guy Walker, Beau Webster, Cameron White, Jack Wildermuth.
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