After seven losses and a seventh-placed finish, the Melbourne Renegades did not have an easy ride in BBL|15.
Having won their opening match in Geelong, the men’s Big Bash side won just two of their remaining nine fixtures during a difficult campaign.
The result marks the third consecutive season without finals for the BBL|08 champions, with coach Cameron White admitting his team were off the pace this summer.
“Three games stick out where we were pretty much outplayed,” White said.
“There was a game down in Geelong (against Hobart Hurricanes), Finn Allen played an unbelievable knock at Marvel and the last game of our season. For the remaining seven, we won three and I thought we were super competitive.
“Looking back at the season it would have been nice to grab another one of those really tight games that we went down in. Instead of three wins, that would have taken us to four or five. I think that would have been sort of a pass mark for where our group is at. Competitive, but still a little bit off the mark.”
The Renegades entered BBL|15 without their leading wicket-taker from the season prior, Tom Rogers. Despite bolstering their bowling attack with the inclusions of former Perth Scorchers veterans Jason Behrendorff and Andrew Tye, White reflected on a significant setback that hurt the club throughout their campaign.
“Tom Rogers got injured in the Vitality Blast months out and he was our best player the season before,” White said.
“We thought we might be able to get half a season out of him and as it turned out we didn’t get any games out of him. That was a big loss for us. After four wins in season one (as coach), I would have liked four or five in season two, so that was a little bit disappointing.”
While the club had their challenges across the season, wins against Melbourne Stars and the eventual title-winning Scorchers gave life to the Renegades season as they claimed two thrilling Big Bash victories in consecutive matches.
Still in contention for the BBL finals at 3-4, the Renegades dropped their last four matches to eliminate any possibility of making the top four. In the run of the consecutive defeats, there’s one loss that White looks back on as a pivotal moment in their campaign.
“In the (Sydney) Thunder game we lost the toss and got sent in on a bit of a sticky wicket, but we actually batted really well in that game,” White said.
“We really let ourselves down with the ball there and that game in particular might have really sapped the energy out of the group. Probably looking back at that game in particular, that was a bit of a defining point in our season. To get it back to 4-4 if we get over the line there, as opposed to 3-5, I think it was pretty was crucial.”
White recognised there is a significant gap between his side and the best teams in the competition. It’s led the Renegades coach to believe his squad must play consistent, high-quality cricket to compete with the top-end talent that other clubs have at their disposal.
“I feel as though there is a gap for sure,” White said.
“From a Renegades point of view, we have to play extremely well and a few things have to go our way to compete with those teams at the top. At the end of the day, Sydney Sixers are bringing in Mitchell Starc and Steve Smith towards the back-end of the season and our list is what it is.
“You look at the lists at the start of the season and think, ‘Gee, there’s some pretty strong sides around’.”
Knowing the importance of staying competitive and pushing back into the BBL finals, White and the Renegades are looking internally to find improvements within their existing roster before next season. With a focus on the development of local Victorian players, White is optimistic that progress from the talent that exists on the Renegades list can drive the club forward in future Big Bash campaigns.
“The growth and development of some of our young Victoria players is where our progress and improvement has to come from,” White said.
“We all know about Ollie Peake and he had a fantastic season. I think the development and growth of our captain Will Sutherland is still encouraging. Jake Fraser-McGurk and these younger guys we can still get more out of. It’s encouraging what it might look like going forward.”
In this fifth BBL|15 season review on cricket.com.au, White helps us breakdown the Melbourne Renegades’ season through the key talking points that defined their summer, before giving us an insight into the future of the club.
Melbourne Renegades: BBL|15 snapshot
BBL|15 result: Seventh (3 wins, 7 losses)
Most runs: Josh Brown (311 at 31.10)
Best strike rate (min. 50 runs): Josh Brown (150.24)
Most wickets: Gurinder Sandhu (18 at 18.05)
Best economy (min. 10 overs): Adam Zampa (6.71)
Contracted for BBL|16: Jason Behrendorff (contracted until 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: Michael Archer, Sam Elliott, Hassan Khan (Pakistan), Muhammad Rizwan (Pakistan), Nathan Lyon, Will Salzmann, Gurinder Sandhu, Tim Seifert (New Zealand), Matthew Spoors, Callum Stow, Adam Zampa
Retired: Andrew Tye
Out: Fergus O’Neill (Sydney Sixers)
Josh Brown’s development
Scoring 311 runs with a strike rate in excess of 150, Josh Brown led the way with the bat for the Melbourne Renegades. The former Brisbane Heat opener made his mark on both editions of the Melbourne Derby, top-scoring for the men in red with 84 and 80 in these fixtures.
After struggling in his initial season with the Renegades, Brown passed 20 on at least six occasions in BBL|15. Although the 32-year-old left some big scores on the table, White believes Brown is a fundamental part to the Renegades side moving forward.
“His season was great,” White said.
“It wasn’t just his bigger scores either. I think it’s one of the under kept stats in the game. One of your openers, getting 20 or 30 with a strike rate better than 200. His contributions even when he wasn’t getting a bigger score were really good.
“He’s starting to feel more comfortable with himself and in and around this group. He’s got a great association with Wade Seccombe who is our main assistant coach. I still think there’s more to come from Browny going forward.”
Muhammad Rizwan’s BBL debut season
Muhammad Rizwan was the Renegades’ marquee international recruit coming into this BBL season. Picked up by the club with their first pick in the BBL|14 Draft, Rizwan was given the opportunity to bat at No.3 throughout the campaign.
Unfortunately for the club and the Pakistan international, Rizwan accumulated just 187 runs at an average of 18.7 and strike rate of 102.74.
The wicketkeeper batter failed to reach fifty in any of his ten innings throughout BBL|15, leaving White disappointed that one of his star overseas signings couldn’t live up his potential in the Big Bash.
“At the end of last season, we thought we needed a high average player and a high balls per dismissal player, which obviously Muhammad Rizwan is,” White said.
“He averages nearly 40 in T20 internationals at a strike rate of 128. Unfortunately Muhammad didn’t play to his numbers which was the role we were looking for. It wasn’t through his lack of effort or trying… at the end of the day it’s a pretty tough competition. As we’ve seen in the history of the competition, not many batters, no matter how good you are, get off the plane and shoot the lights out.
“It was a bit dissapointing for us, the Renegades and himself that he didn’t play close to those numbers to fulfil that role for us, but that wasn’t the sole reason that we didn’t make the finals.”
In the club’s match against the Sydney Thunder at ENGIE Stadium, Rizwan was retired out by the Renegades in the closing stages of their innings. Looking for boundaries at the end of their 20 overs with the bat, Rizwan walked off the field having made 26 off 23 balls.
“He was fantastic off-field,” White said.
“Obviously there was some challenging times throughout the season for him. The Thunder game when he was retired, that can go one of two ways. He can either take that very poorly and show outwardly that he’s very disappointed, but what you saw was what we saw in and around the group and behind closed doors. He took that like a professional. His attitude and the way he handled himself was fantastic.”
Will Sutherland’s magic moment at the MCG
In a season where highlights were few and far between for the Renegades, Will Sutherland’s heroics in the final over of their Melbourne Derby clash against the Melbourne Stars at the MCG was a standout moment for the club.
Needing 13 off the last over with Marcus Stoinis steaming in, Sutherland landed two sixes to help his side claim the Melbourne Mace with a ball to spare.
Delivering the goods in front of 68,124 people, White said he was thrilled to see his skipper come up clutch in such a big occasion.
“I think that’s one of Will’s great moments for the season,” White said.
“I was a little worried by that stage (before the final over). I think we controlled the game for most of it… we took the Power Surge pretty early in that game. Browny and Muhammad Rizwan were going well. I think we were down to run a ball or six and a half and over. Then somehow, with a couple of overs to go, we sort of found ourselves needing 10 an over.
“To be out in the middle as captain and hit a couple off sixes in the last over, it was fantastic for him and fantastic for the club. Regardless of who won or lost that game, over 68,000 for a game at the MCG I think was great for the Big Bash as a whole. It was very pleasing to get the win there and pleasing for Will to finish the game like that as well.”
The rise of Ollie Peake
Not to be outdone by his captain, Ollie Peake’s final-ball six at Optus Stadium against the Scorchers may just have been ‘the moment’ of the BBL|15 season.
The 19-year-old’s scoop off Aaron Hardie to record a famous Renegades win showed an extraordinary amount of courage and class.
In what turned out to be his last game of the tournament before he left for Australia’s U19 World Cup campaign in Zimbabwe and Namibia, White said Peake demonstrated just how much of a problem solver he is when it comes to his batting.
“That was a great moment for us,” White said.
“You put a 19-year-old young man into a situation that he’s never been in before, never batted in those conditions before, and somehow be faced with a whole new set of problems. For him to work it out, like he’s always done in his short and inexperienced career so far… it was a great moment.”
While the decision from Peake to scoop Aaron Hardie on the last ball of the game was brave, White admitted there was a signal from the dugout to take on the shot that would give his side a remarkable victory in Perth.
“When you go to Perth, you want to try and use the pace as much as you can,” White said.
“The Scorchers quite often have mid-off and mid-on up. They bowl into the wicket and they ask you to try and hit it over those fielders. Quite often that’s the undoing of the batter in those conditions. A lot of the time we talk about… is the percentage play where the fielders aren’t, like over mid-off and mid-on, or is it actually either side of deep square-leg, deep backward-square or fine-leg.
“Just in that moment, I think Ollie was probably feeling the pressure a bit. He’d been trying to fight the pace a bit, and then just happened to be facing the dugout. We got a little signal to in there to try and use the pace a bit, which he picked up on.
“I think he would have worked it out anyway, but to put that little bit of information into play, and play an unbelievable shot, that was a great moment for us.”
Peake ended his BBL|15 campaign having made significant contributions with the bat, amassing 165 runs at an average of 33 and strike rate of 146.01 across the six matches he played.
Squad changes and eyes on BBL|16
With the focus now shifting towards BBL|16, the Renegades locked in nine players before the Player Movement Window closed earlier this month. While they didn’t pick up any new recruits in the window, the club lost paceman Fergus O’Neill who was signed by the Sydney Sixers.
With Andrew Tye retiring, the Renegades have now lost two fast bowlers in the last month.
Reflecting on the loss of O’Neill, who played just the two games without picking up a wicket for the Renegades in BBL|15, White said the 25-year-old’s move to the Sixers will be beneficial for his Big Bash career.
“It’s a bit disappointing from a Cricket Victoria point of view,” White said.
“I guess Ferg got offered a deal and he has to take it not knowing where it’s going to land with us. It’s probably a good thing for him to experience different conditions and find his way away from sticky Marvel wickets. I think his record at Marvel on those juicy wickets is fantastic. Away from those grounds he’s got plenty of work to do.”
Outside of O’Neill, White said the club are confident they can secure the services of two currently uncontracted players in Sam Elliott and Gurinder Sandhu. Sandhu took the most wickets for the Renegades in BBL|15, while Elliott impressed with a four-wicket haul in the team’s victory over the Scorchers.
Australian Test star Nathan Lyon is also out of contract having been signed by the club for the last three seasons without playing. With Australian Test players unlikely to feature in the Big Bash next summer, questions remain as to whether the club will offer Lyon another contract if he won’t be able to play in the tournament.
Although despite their decision with Lyon, the biggest question for the Renegades surrounds Adam Zampa.
After three seasons at the club where he’s played 22 matches and taken 24 wickets, White said the club is unsure on whether the 33-year-old will return to the Renegades in BBL|16.
“Adam’s exploring his options,” White said.
“That’s why he hasn’t been signed. We haven’t signed him and he hasn’t signed anywhere else. That’s probably where it’s at. ‘Is he going to be with us next year’ is a tough one to answer at this stage. I would probably say at this stage it’s more likely, maybe not.”
While the club is looking for progress from their existing squad members, White noted the importance of getting their international recruits right for next season.
“I think our overseas signings are crucial to us and to our winning chances,” White said.
“We talked about matching it with Perth Scorchers, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Stars and Sydney Sixers who are some of the better teams in the comp. I think that local improvement matched with our overseas signings is how we go from three or four wins to five or six and make finals.”
As for who the Renegades may target before next season, White said the club is committed to focusing on developing their current, Victorian talent before looking at squad gaps ahead of BBL|16.
“I think the gaps that we do have must come from (the squad) we have got,” White said.
“We’re looking for improved seasons from Jake Fraser-McGurk, Will Sutherland and the continued development of Ollie Peake, Harry Dixon and Callum Stow. Josh Brown had a great season. I think we can get more out of him going forward. I think that’s where our improvement as a club and squad has to come from.
“The decision that we’ve made is to commit to our players that are on our list, especially the younger guys and the Victorian guys. The improvement and the gap filling needs to come from those guys.”
