Melbourne Stars sign English coach for WBBL|08

The Melbourne Stars have signed Englishman Jonathan Batty as their new WBBL head coach as the club seeks to end their long Big Bash title drought.

Batty, a former first-class cricketer with Surrey and Gloucestershire, is currently the head coach of Surrey's women's team and the Oval Invincibles in the women's Hundred competition, who he steered to the inaugural title last year.

Batty is the Stars' fourth WBBL coach in as many seasons.

Inaugural coach David Hemp was sacked in 2020 after failing to reach the finals in five seasons, Trent Woodhill steered the club to the tournament decider in WBBL|06 before opting not to have his contract renewed, while Jarrad Loughman departed in March after the Stars finished fifth in WBBL|07.

The Stars have made the WBBL finals just once in seven seasons and are one of two clubs along with the Hobart Hurricanes yet to win a men's or women's Big Bash title.

They currently have just three players on contract for WBBL|08; Australia skipper Meg Lanning, star allrounder Annabel Sutherland and wicketkeeper-batter Nicole Faltum.

Much of the focus in the off-season will be on the future of opener Elyse Villani, who slammed 439 runs in WBBL|07 but has not yet inked a new deal.

"Our aim every season is to play finals and we hope Jonathan can maximise the outstanding talent within our squad," Melbourne Stars General Manager Blair Crouch said in a statement.

"The process to secure our Head Coach was a global search and Jonathan was the standout candidate from a very strong field.

"We hope to make some more exciting announcements in the coming weeks as we continue to work to improve our squad."

There is currently a contracting embargo in place, meaning players and clubs cannot sign deals.

Batty, a former wicketkeeper-batter who scored almost 10,000 first-class runs during his 20-year career, will arrive in Melbourne in September.

"I can't wait to get started, having watched the competition from afar for a number of years which has been a sector leading tournament for women's cricket globally,” he said.

"To be a part of a team like the Melbourne Stars, and work with such a talented squad who are led by some outstanding world class players, was a fantastic opportunity that I wanted to be a part of.

"I can't wait to work with an outstanding captain in Meg Lanning, I'm looking forward to getting to Melbourne, meeting the squad, getting to know them, the fans and the city and hopefully have some success later this year."