Scoring rate in the sights of new Stars coach Moores

New Melbourne Stars coach Peter Moores has set his sights on lifting the team's scoring rate in the middle overs as he flagged more changes in personnel for his first season at the helm of the KFC BBL club.

The former England men's head coach signed a two-year deal with the club late last month after the departure of David Hussey, taking over a struggling side that has missed the finals for the past three seasons and finished last in BBL|12 last summer with just three wins from 14 games.

Moores, who will balance his time between both his Stars and English county Nottinghamshire coaching roles, says the batting strike rate in the middle overs of the innings was where the club was lagging the most.

While Opta data shows the Stars had the third-highest team strike rate of 135 runs per 100 balls during the four-over powerplay last season, they dropped to last during the middle overs.

From overs seven to 15 in BBL|12, the Stars scored at a rate of just 114 per 100 balls, 31 runs fewer than back-to-back champions the Perth Scorchers (145.36).

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"We haven't scored at the rate, certainly through the middle overs, that's needed to be successful," Moores said in an interview distributed to Stars members following his appointment.

"The Scorchers have been the side that have dominated the BBL for the last couple of seasons.

"We want to play an aggressive style of cricket (and) there's a skill to that.

"T20 cricket, by its nature, every ball is important, and you've got to be on and ready to go and you can't afford to be off the pace. That's going to be so important."

With Australia's premier white-ball spinner and the club's all-time leading wicket-taker, Adam Zampa, set to be traded to crosstown rivals the Melbourne Renegades for wicketkeeper Sam Harper once the BBL's contracting embargo lifts, Moores also foreshadowed more list moves with seven players from last season out of contract.

"It hasn't worked," Moores said. "The Stars aren't where they've wanted to be over the last couple of seasons.

"There's got to be a look at the players, the players will change, and also the mindset we go into those games has got to be looked at.

"For me the way I'd like to see that list, we need good depth in it.

"It's great to have youngsters who are pushing in on some of those senior lads to keep competition, and you need some quality players.

"Looking at that list over the next few weeks it's going to be important that we start to look at what options we have within that to start to get ourselves a stronger list for BBL|13."

What the Stars haven't lacked over the course of their existence is quality players with T20 World Cup winners Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Zampa all part of the squad for the past eight seasons.

But where they have fallen down is depth to cover those superstars should they not be available, as was exposed during BBL|12 when Maxwell and Joe Burns suffered season ending injuries and Stoinis missed five matches due to hamstring injury and didn't bowl after their New Year's Eve fixture.

Moores, who will now call the MCG home after bringing an England side there for the opening match of the 2015 ODI World Cup during his second period in charge of the national side, said he had spoken to Maxwell during the interview process and would connect with Stoinis over the coming months.

"They're away in the IPL, that's a huge tournament for them," he said.

"They'll be very busy and as things settle down it'll be a great chance to catch up with our senior players, certainly with some of the coaching staff, with some of the backroom staff to start to get a clearer picture of where things actually are."

Contracted for BBL|13: Joe Burns, Hilton Cartwright, Brody Couch, Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell (BBL15), Marcus Stoinis, Beau Webster, Adam Zampa (BBL14) *Contract expires at the end of BBL|13 unless specified

Off contract: Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sam Elliott, Liam Hatcher, Clint Hinchliffe, Campbell Kellaway, Cameron McClure, Tom O'Connell