Struggling Gades turn to youth with key men sidelined

The struggling Melbourne Renegades will be forced to turn to youth in a desperate bid to avoid back-to-back KFC BBL wooden spoons, with multiple key players including standout batter Shaun Marsh set to be sidelined.

Coach Michael Klinger bemoaned his batters' lack of accountability as they became the first BBL team to be skittled for double-figures three times in a season as the Perth Scorchers steamrolled them by 96 runs at Optus Stadium on Sunday.

After 145-run and 129-run defeats to the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder respectively earlier in the tournament, the Renegades have in the space of a month succumbed to three of the six biggest defeats (by runs) in BBL history.

Their sixth straight loss leaves them languishing at the bottom of the table on five points with only a solitary win from their first game of the season.

Marsh will now remain in his hometown Perth for the birth of his third child and the left-hander will be sorely missed given he has managed nearly double the number of runs (247 at 35) of the side's next best batter (Aaron Finch with 132 at 22).

In further blows, import batter Rilee Rossouw looks set to be sidelined after injuring his hamstring while fielding in the defeat to the Scorchers while Mohammad Nabi is only expected to play another few games before Afghanistan's ODI series against Ireland begins this month in Abu Dhabi.

That is set to open the door for young batters Jake Fraser-McGurk and Mackenzie Harvey, who took arguably the catch of the season in the Renegades' previous game on Friday but made way for Beau Webster two days later.

Klinger hopes Fraser-McGurk and Harvey, aged 18 and 20 respectively, can replicate the success of Sydney Thunder young gun Ollie Davies, who has turned heads with his impressive hitting ability in his first BBL season. 

"A lot of our young guys will get opportunities. Rilee Rossouw has done his hamstring, Shaun Marsh is staying here to have a baby so he's going to miss next at least one or two games," said Klinger, who now has just four wins from his 21 games at the helm of the Renegades.

"Guys like Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey – they're going to have a chance to put their mark forward and do what a Davies at the same age has done at the Thunder and put their name up in headlights, not just be a contributor but actually be a match winner.

"The opportunity for those guys will come in the next couple of games."

The Renegades will have Imad Wasim available again after the Pakistani was not allowed to travel to Western Australia having recently been in New Zealand. With WA not part of the NZ travel bubble, Imad instead went straight to Adelaide where the Renegades play their next two games.

Klinger also explained the decision to bat skipper Aaron Finch at number three against the Scorchers instead of his regular opening position for just the second time in the BBL was an effort to refresh the side's top order.

Promoted opener Sam Harper was out second ball, while Finch was unfortunate to be run out backing up at the bowler's end for eight.

"We tried to get Sammy into the tournament to start up. He's an aggressive player up front," said Klinger. "Not winning a few games, we were hoping that change might help him get away."

While Klinger confirmed the Renegades had made an early call to chase the Bash Boost point in pursuit of the Scorchers' 3-185 (as they had in previous games where they fell over in the face of large totals), he also said their plan was to get there with wickets in hand.

Jack Prestwidge did indeed seal the point with a few balls to spare in the 10th over by hitting Jhye Richardson for six but the Renegades had lost eight wickets by that point.

They were rolled for just 89 in the 13th over.

"I thought our batting with accountability was really poor," said Klinger, who added that his side's almost unsalvageable net run-rate -2.894 may not matter as much this season with the introduction of the Bash Boost point.

"We talked about getting that bonus point and there was very little risk at that stage, it was under six an over to get that and then try to propel from there.

"I thought some guys played high-risk cricket when it wasn't needed and didn't bat with the accountability needed.

"When we have been chasing large scores we just haven't given ourselves enough time with the bat. Even today the Scorchers were only 65 off the first 10 overs and then hit 120-plus in the last 10 (overs).

"We're losing too many wickets up front in that situation and then not being able to come back from that.

"… it's not good for our members or supporters seeing losses like that when we know we've got a highly-skilled group who are better than that."