Renegades skipper Maddinson dropped for crunch clash

Melbourne Renegades captain Nic Maddinson has been dropped for the club’s must-win clash against the Adelaide Strikers tonight.

Less than two hours before the first ball at Marvel Stadium, the Renegades revealed that vice-captain Will Sutherland would instead lead the side as veteran Aaron Finch, who re-joined the squad after missing the last match through back soreness, appeared a likely replacement for Maddinson.

After returning scores of 6, 15, 19 and 9 to date in KFC BBL|13, Renegades head coach David Saker said a difficult decision had to be made.

“Evidently his form hasn’t been up to a standard we expect and unfortunately we’ve had to make the tough call,” Saker said.

“To his credit, Maddo was the first to put his hand up and has been first class in the way he’s presented himself.

“He’s missed a lot of cricket due his knee injury and while his preparation to date has been sound, it’s extremely tough to come back after such a long layoff and launch into a Big Bash season.

“He’s a terrific leader for our club and will continue to press for re-selection and play a crucial role for us as we aim to turn our season around.”

The omission of Maddinson, one of just 18 players to have scored more than 2,000 Big Bash runs, comes ahead of a season-defining match under the roof in Docklands.

Winless in five matches, defeat against the Strikers would likely spell the end of the club’s push for the Big Bash finals this summer.

Shaun Marsh, who starred in the Renegades’ 13-run loss to the Perth Scorchers on Boxing Day, admitted after the defeat that their "margin for error now is very, very small".

They face a Strikers outfit who can leapfrog the Melbourne Stars back into fourth place with victory at Marvel Stadium.

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