The Renegades have been the most active club in the post-season as they build on their long-term plan
'Gades optimistic on 'ingredients' despite finals miss: BBL|14 review
The Melbourne Renegades believe they have the foundation to return to the top of the men's Big Bash League after an improved showing in KFC BBL|14 and an active trade period.
With a new head coach (Cameron White), a new full-time captain (Will Sutherland) and new high performance boss (Wade Seccombe) appointed ahead of the season, Renegades management are optimistic they have all the right pieces in place despite missing the finals for a fifth time in six seasons.
The 'Gades were briefly in the top four on the penultimate day of the home-and-away season before being leapfrogged by Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Stars over the final two games to ultimately finish in sixth.
Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said BBL|14 showed they could win any game but they lacked consistent match-winning performances from their big players.
"The ingredients are there," Rosengarten said.
"It was great to see improved performance (after finishing seventh with two wins in BBL|13) and what could have been a finals tilt after a really strong start.
"But just given how much we've invested in a longer-term plan with those leaders, we're quite happy with how that's panned out."
The Renegades started strong by obliterating eventual champions Hobart Hurricanes in Geelong before beating the Scorchers at Marvel Stadium to sit inside the top four with a 2-1 record after their first three games.
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They conquered the toughest road trip in the Big Bash to beat the Scorchers again in Perth in early January to keep their finals hopes alive, but will rue being Glenn Maxwell'd in two tense Melbourne derby losses that effectively killed their season.
With the Stars needing 42 from four overs at the MCG, Maxwell (20no off 10 balls) and Hilton Cartwright (24no off 12) broke Renegades hearts with an unbeaten 44-run stand to sneak home with two balls to spare.
They then had their crosstown rivals on the ropes eight days later in the return clash at Marvel Stadium before Maxwell flipped the script with one of the competition's greatest innings of all-time to single-handedly lift the Stars from 7-75 to 165.
After the superstar allrounder farmed the strike to score all 79 runs off the bat in a partnership of 81 with Usama Mir, the Renegades collapsed to 123 all out at the hands of Mark Steketee (5-17) and Joel Paris (3-13).
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A tight final-over loss to the Hurricanes in Hobart was effectively the final nail in the coffin, as despite thrashing Brisbane Heat in their last match where Jake Fraser-McGurk finally got going with a breathtaking 46-ball 95, an improbable sequence of results failed to fall their way in the final two games.
"It's a genuine rivalry, and it grows more and more as you have more great games like that," Rosengarten said of the Melbourne derby.
"It's in the crowd as well that you're starting to feel that a lot more because there's a lot more on the line.
"So high stakes, high tension, that's what you want."
Season snapshot
BBL|14 result: Sixth (4 wins, 6 losses)
Most runs: Tim Seifert (200 at 22.22)
Best strike rate (min. 50 runs): Josh Brown (155.08)
Most wickets: Tom Rogers (16 at 19.12)
Best economy (min. 10 overs): Jacob Bethell (6.80)
Contracted for BBL|15: Jason Behrendorff (contracted until BBL|17), Josh Brown (BBL|15), Harry Dixon (BBL|16), Brendan Doggett (BBL|16), Jake Fraser-McGurk (BBL|17), Caleb Jewell (BBL|16), Nathan Lyon (BBL|15), Fergus O'Neill (BBL|15), Tom Rogers (BBL|15), Tim Seifert (BBL|15), Will Sutherland (BBL|17), Adam Zampa (BBL|15)
Ins: Jason Behrendorff (Scorchers), Brendan Doggett (Strikers), Caleb Jewell (Hurricanes)
Uncontracted: Jacob Bethell, Xavier Crone, Sam Elliott, Laurie Evans, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Hassan Khan, Tawanda Muyeye, Ollie Peake, Kane Richardson, Gurinder Sandhu, Callum Stow, Jon Wells
International impact
Jacob Bethell was relatively unknown in Australia when taken with pick 10 by the Renegades in last year's draft, but by the time he arrived for BBL|14 he had earnt international debuts for England in all three formats. Aussie fans didn't see the best of the prodigiously talented 21-year-old this summer, but he gave everyone a taste of what he could produce in the Ashes later this year with a superb 87 from 50 balls in his final game against the Hurricanes. Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said they'd "love to have him back" in BBL|15 but they'll likely face competition from the England Test team.
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Kiwi journeyman Tim Seifert started hot with half-century in the Renegades' season opener against the Sixers followed by a match-high 37 not out in their win over the Hurricanes on a difficult batting surface in Geelong. His output slowed after that, but the right-hander's 200 runs were the most productive of a wicketkeeper-batter during the BBL|14 regular season. Seifert will be back next season after signing a two-year deal.
"He's quite passionate about the group and really grew to love it," Rosengarten said. "If we talk about those foundational blocks, he's another one who's quite invested in what we're trying to do."
The 'Gades poached Laurie Evans away from the Scorchers with pick three in the draft, but it was a "frustrating" first season at Marvel Stadium for the powerful Englishman. His 40 against the Thunder was his best score for the campaign, finishing with 102 runs at 17 from his seven innings. "He probably didn't get the runs he would have liked, but he was great as a leader around the group," Rosengarten said. "We're in a nice spot where Tim will be back next year, but we've got a couple of good options there, if it fits into other calendars."
Season recap with general manager James Rosengarten
Foundation built
"We talked this time last year about a reset and I think there was a lot of new stuff (this season) – a new coach with Cam White's first year in the men's program and Will (Sutherland) as the first-time captain. So a lot of work went into getting those foundational pieces right.
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"It was great to see improved performance and what could have been a finals tilt after a really strong start but just given how much we've invested in a longer-term plan with those leaders, we're quite happy with how that's panned out."
Playing the odds
"This year we showed that we could win any game. We beat the Scorchers over there in Perth and made a mess of Hobart in Geelong and almost beat them again in the second last game when there was a lot to play for.
"We showed the upside, ultimately we just need more strong performances from our big players and match-winning performances. In that final game when it clicked for Jake (Fraser-McGurk), and Josh Brown with 32 off 11 balls, they're a match-winning performances. You play the odds on that, and it was probably just those bigger performances from the higher-end players … didn't happen as many times as we needed."
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New opening pair fails to fire
"We know (Jake Fraser-McGurk and Josh Brown) are high-risk and high-reward players and when it comes off it's great and when it doesn't, how do we still forge together match-winning performances?
"In fairness to both of those guys, they weren't playing on the best batting conditions for how they play and when they got decent conditions, I think they did play quite well."
Marvel Stadium surface
"It obviously didn't go the way we would have liked as far as both the outfield and the way the pitch played and it's the number one thing that we're working on now. Marvel have been really good at working with us on that … we've already had our season review meetings with Marvel and we're putting plans in place for next year to make it better.
"Part of the conversation is how do we get more match play, and we know it's possible. To see almost 400 runs scored in that final game, I don't think there's many better grounds when there's runs flowing like that."
Breakout players
"Fergus O'Neill had a really strong season and continues to develop. He plays really well in particular conditions, especially at Marvel Stadium. Callum Stow, we've had him here at Junction Oval bowling since June – 9pm at night just bowling overs with Wade (Seccombe, the club high performance manager). He bowled really well on debut in Hobart and then beautifully in the final game, so he's someone that we're pretty excited about too."
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Looking ahead to BBL|15
Post-season moves
"The reality with our bowling attack is that it probably needed a bit of variety, so to add a left-armer in (Jason) Behrendorff and a high ball speed bowler in (Brendan) Doggett, we were really clear on that. With Tom (Rogers), the leg-spin of (Adam) Zampa and Will Sutherland, that's a well-rounded attack.
"We found this year there were some high individual scores made against us – (David) Warner batted for a long time, (Chris) Lynn and (Glenn) Maxwell, so to have the variety of a left-armer and experience bowler like Behrendorff is great.
"And he'll also help Tom with some of those hard overs – 'Buck' (Rogers) bowled every Powerplay and every Surge and to still go at (8.42) runs per over, that's an extraordinary season for him. Throw in Brendan who bowled beautifully at Marvel Stadium (1-17 off four overs) and his high ball speed, which is what we need."
Batting boost
"Caleb Jewell is a little bit different … we saw him bat for long periods, he made that 40 off 41 in the Qualifier – that's the kind of long innings we think could be really beneficial for our top order, who are all right-handers as well so to have him as a left-hander (is a point of difference).
"The other one is Harry Dixon; we were really pleased he got a couple of games at the end, he showed some bits and pieces, which we're quite excited about and his innings on Sheffield Shield debut was outstanding so he's the other one we think slots into that top order."
Priority re-signings
"Priorities for us are those young guys – Peake, Stow, Harry's already re-signed – it was nice there was lots of interest in him, it's the same conversations we've had around Jake (Fraser-McGurk) for the last five years, you get used to it with highly talented players. But (Dixon) was really keen to stay.
"We've got the experience there and creating a list that is mature enough to win games now and then to have high-end talent coming through, if you throw Jake and Will into that, we believe there's genuinely five guys that you probably expect to be playing for Australia in the next couple of years coming through."