After the Melbourne Stars bowed out of the BBL|14 Finals, Brad Hodge dissects the calls that may have cost them in the end
The Surge: Why the Stars "got it wrong" in the Knockout
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When it came to the Knockout final against the Sydney Thunder, the Melbourne Stars got their approach all wrong before a ball was even bowled according to Brad Hodge.
With the pitch suited to the Thunder's three spinners, Hodge questioned certain selection decisions as well as captain Marcus Stoinis' decision to bowl first after winning the bat flip.
"If you're up close and personal to that surface, you definitely have to think 'if Thunder put on 140 here this is going to be a line-ball chase'. In the end it wasn't even close," Hodge said on The Surge Podcast.
"The only thing I can think of was there was a fair bit of weather around and they went off for lightning."
With Beau Webster departing the side to join the Australian Test team, the Stars brought in Peter Handscomb as his replacement and deployed him at No.3 despite not playing a Big Bash game at all this season.
"The only way to sum it up is they got it wrong. They got the selection call wrong," Hodge said of the strategy around the Handscomb pick.
"Pete Handscomb is a great player but if he came into that side, outside of the squad, it had to be for Sam Harper. And Sam Harper should have gone out of the side on a performance base."
"They didn't have enough courage, the Melbourne Stars brains trust."
Despite the loss, Hodge believes there are plenty of positives for the team to take away from BBL|14.
"My concern around the Stars was their bowling. I thought it was extremely thin at the start of the tournament. Post 2024, their bowling unit was really good," Hodge said.
"(Mark) Steketee came in and made an impact, Peter Siddle was good of course as usual and the improvement in Usama Mir as well."
"Credit to Marcus Stoinis' bowling as well. You could see there was a huge level of intensity in his bowling which added to that Melbourne Stars lineup."
"You have to give them a tick because they've reached the finals."
"But then again, come crunch time that was a pretty disappointing performance."
You can watch the full episode of The Surge on YouTube with Adam White and Brad Hodge or catch up with the latest clips in the Big Bash App.