Gades pinch Clarke from cross-town rivals

They pinched their cross-town rivals' leading spinner, and now the Melbourne Renegades have prised away the Stars' leading run-scorer.

Joe Clarke has been announced as the Renegades' third overseas player with the English keeper-batter to open the batting with Quinton de Kock in the upcoming KFC BBL13 season.

Clarke has been one of the Melbourne Stars' most dependable players over the past two summers, scoring 800 runs at an average above 30. The right-hander blazed a memorable century at the MCG against the Hobart Hurricanes last season.

But the Stars went all in on Harry Brook with the first pick of the recent overseas player draft, along with Pakistan bowlers Haris Rauf and Usama Mir with follow-up picks, leaving no room for their most prolific batter over the past two seasons. 

"Between he and Adam Zampa, we're pretty happy to have signed the Stars' MVPs from the last two seasons," Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said, referencing the trade of wicketkeeper Sam Harper for Zampa earlier this year.

Clarke, listed as a 'Platinum' player in the draft, was overlooked by teams despite his strong BBL form.

But the Renegades revealed they had always hoped to snap him up.

"We really like the way Joe plays the game. He's an attacking player from the top who can set up a game quickly and we think he'll a perfect fit with our other top order batters," Rosengarten said.

"Joe was an active part of our overseas draft strategy this year. While we were limited in how we could use our picks at the overseas player draft, we had a plan to secure Joe as quickly as we could and it came off which is great for our club.

"We're excited to have Joe and Quinton open the batting together for the Renegades this season."

The Renegades still intend to give de Kock the gloves but now have a back-up in Clarke. As it stands, there are no other keepers in their squad.

That will have to be addressed. De Kock is expected to be available for their first eight games before departing for the South Africa T20 league. They may be able to squeeze one extra game out of Clarke before he leaves for the UAE T20 competition beginning in mid-January.

Losing both openers and their other overseas recruit Mujeeb Ur Rahman (who also holds a UAE T20 contract) will leave a gaping hole if the Renegades make finals, though their dilemma will be shared by many other BBL clubs.

"I'm excited to come down to Melbourne again for the summer and this time be in red at Marvel Stadium," said Clarke, who scored a match-winning half-century for the Stars in a run chase at the Gades' Docklands home in January.

"The list the Renegades have put together has some serious talent and experience and I'm looking forward to being part of that and building for a second consecutive finals appearance."

Renegades BBL13 Squad (so far): Nic Maddinson (c), Joe Clarke (England), Quinton de Kock (South Africa), Harry Dixon, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Will Sutherland, Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Jon Wells, Adam Zampa.

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