Leg-spinner becomes the first player to sign on after the lifting of the Big Bash’s contract embargo
Michael Archer has been signed to the Melbourne Renegades’ primary list for BBL|16, graduating from a local replacement player to potentially the club’s frontline spinner for this coming summer.
Archer is the first domino to fall after the Big Bash’s league-wide contracting embargo was lifted on Thursday, with a flurry of signings set to transpire over the coming weeks as Weber WBBL|12 – and then BBL|16 – fast approaches.
The new signing model sees a return to direct signings as opposed to an overseas player draft, alongside no mandate to contract international players.
The 29-year-old’s first taste of the BBL came in the Renegades’ final game last season as coverage for the World Cup-bound Adam Zampa, in which the visitors were skittled for 99 runs as the Strikers romped to an eight-wicket victory at Adelaide Oval with 49 balls to spare. He bowled two overs in defence of the double-digit tally to finish with figures of 0-15.
Melbourne Renegades
Head coach: Luke Ronchi
Contracted for BBL|16: Michael Archer (contracted until BBL|16), Jason Behrendorff (BBL|17), Josh Brown (BBL|17), Harry Dixon (BBL|16), Brendan Doggett (BBL|16), Jake Fraser-McGurk (BBL|17), Caleb Jewell (BBL|16), Ollie Peake (BBL|17), Tom Rogers (BBL|16), Will Sutherland (BBL|17)
Uncontracted: Sam Elliott, Hassan Khan (Pakistan), Muhammad Rizwan (Pakistan), Nathan Lyon, Will Salzmann, Gurinder Sandhu, Tim Seifert (New Zealand), Matthew Spoors, Callum Stow, Adam Zampa
In: Michael Archer
Outs: Fergus O’Neill (Sydney Sixers), Andrew Tye (retired)
Archer’s turners have more recently been on full display during the Top End T20 series, landing the tournament’s first hat-trick to close out the Victoria Academy’s 52-run win over Northern Territory Strike with figures of 4-13.
It was Archer’s second hat-trick in the space of 18 months after also nabbing the rare feat for Melbourne Renegades Academy in April last year.
It’s a more than a fair audition for the up-and-coming leggie, who boasts an impressive record in Victorian Premier Cricket, to land the role of the Renegades’ first-choice spinner for BBL|16 under new coach Luke Ronchi.
The out-of-contract Nathan Lyon – yet to play a game for the Renegades – is highly unlikely to see any BBL action given Australia’s crowded red-ball calendar, while Zampa is on the move to a new club after three seasons at the Renegades, with the Hurricanes the leading suitors for the spinner’s services.
Left-armer Callum Stow and Matthew Spoors also remain without contracts heading into BBL|16.
Spin accounted for over a third of the Renegades’ deliveries in BBL|15, with Pakistan’s Hassan Khan sending down the bulk of the overs (26.2); almost twice the amount of the next-highest in Zampa (14).
Todd Murphy, who played alongside Archer in the Top End T20 tournament for the Vics, is yet to re-sign with Sydney Sixers and could potentially be on the move, but his availability could be limited with Australia’s five-Test tour of India to commence on January 21 next year.
Murphy has claimed five wickets from his three matches up north for Victoria, while Sixers teammate Jordan Silk has scored 170 runs at an average of 56.66 representing NT Strike. Renegades skipper Will Sutherland and BBL|15 player of the tournament Sam Harper have also been among the runs for Victoria with respective tallies of 137 and 141; the former at an average of 68.50.
“To play with Todd over the past few days (in Darwin) and just watch the lengths that he bowls is something that I’ve learnt from over the first few games,” Archer said after his hat-trick.
“Being able to control length is where I can be a little more consistent and I’ve got a pretty nice wrong-un which helps me. I’m pretty comfortable in my own skin and I know what I’ve got I can work with, so it’s just about continuing to improve and hone that.”
Archer follows Adelaide Strikers allrounder Jerrssis Wadia in making the leap from a local replacement to a fully-fledged BBL contract after signing on prior to the embargo in February. Brisbane Heat speedster Tom Balkin is also poised to land a full-time deal after his five-game stretch in BBL|15, which included a match-winning final over at the death against the Strikers.
