Photo Credit: Melbourne Renegades
The Melbourne Renegades are proud to present the club’s Team of the Decade.
A selection panel featuring title winning Captain Aaron Finch, title winning Coach Andrew McDonald, inaugural Coach Simon Helmot and leading cricket analyst Freddie Wilde sifted through ten years of club history to select our best side.
The selection meeting was broadcast live in an exclusive event for members hosted by RSN’s Adam White.
All 93 players who have represented the Renegades in the BBL were eligible for selection, but only two overseas players were permitted in the final XI, in line with the rules for nine of the ten seasons of the competition.
Without further ado, here’s the club’s Team of the Decade:
The story of the team
Aaron Finch
The captain of the club since BBL|02 and its face and voice for a decade, Finch was a walk up start, and would likely be so should the BBL itself name its own Team of the Decade. A prolific run scorer, Finch has made 2,421 BBL runs, the second most of any player in the league, and comfortably the most ever for the Renegades.
The stat: In the BBL, Finch averages 41 against pace and 31 against spin, and strikes at 132 against pace and 141 against spin.
Shaun Marsh
Arriving at the club ahead of BBL|09, Marsh quickly proved himself as a Renegade of the highest quality. In 24 matches, Marsh has been a man of consistency. He averages 31.70 runs per innings – comfortably the highest of any player to play at least 10 innings for the Renegades. He has already made 761 runs from 24 innings, and ranks fifth on the club’s overall run scoring leaderboard.
The stat: He’s a supreme player of spin. Marsh averages 41.37 against the tweakers – the highest of any player ever to play for the Renegades.
Sam Harper
By far the stand-out wicket-keeper in the Renegades’ first 10 years. Harper is comfortably the highest scoring wicket-keeper ever to play for the Renegades. Harper has 971 runs (Matthew Wade with 245 is the next best), bats at a strike rate of 134.86 and has cemented his place at the top of the order in recent seasons.
The stat: Harper has hit 30 sixes. Only three Renegades (Aaron Finch, Tom Cooper and Cameron White) have hit more.
Ben Rohrer
Nicknamed ‘The Postman’, and for good reason – Rohrer always delivered. One of the club’s early champions, Rohrer brought a steady head and calm approach to the middle order, rebuilding an innings, finishing off a strong start or closing a chase in Michael Bevan-esque fashion. So strong was Rohrer’s form, he was rewarded with selection for Australia against the West Indies in a T20I at the Gabba in 2013. He averaged 51.00 against spin and made two half centuries.
The stat: Rohrer was explosive at the death, especially against the pacemen, against whom he boasted a strike rate of 172.
Tom Cooper
A club stalwart since debuting in 2012, Cooper scored 1202 runs in red, making him the team’s second highest scorer after Finch and the only other batsman to have scored more than 1000 runs. A man of versatility, Cooper batted in every position from No. 1 to No. 7 but played the majority (72 per cent) of his 62 innings in the middle order. He also moonlit as an opening bowler on 20 occasions, returning an economy rate of just 6.40. He was also a very safe fielder, taking 33 of his 35 catch chances for the Renegades, making him the safest fielder to play for the team (minimum 5 catches).
The stat: Cooper played 71 matches for the Renegades. Only Finch (76) has managed more.
Dan Christian
A man of many BBL teams, it was with the Renegades Christian starred in 30 matches between 2018 and 2020. With bat, ball or in the field, he was always in the thick of the action, often sealing the deal in close finishes with either discipline. Christian’s Player of the Match performance in the BBL|08 final against the Stars (38 runs from 30 deliveries and 2-33 from four overs) will live long in the memory and underscores his reputation as a big game performer.
The stat: Christian bowled 300 balls in the middle overs for the Renegades – the most of any pace bowler for the team. In that phase he returned a very useful economy rate of 7.20.
Dwayne Bravo
A fan favourite from 2014-2018, Bravo’s work with bat and ball lifted the roof off Marvel Stadium time and time again. A death overs operator, he bowled 274 balls in the death overs for the Renegades – second only to Kane Richardson, who has played 15 more matches. He was impossible to stop when on song with the bat, too, scoring at a rate of 170 in the death overs – the third highest of any player to face at least 100 balls in that phase for the Renegades.
The stat: Bravo boasts the best bowling figures of any Renegade in the first decade, taking 5-28 against the Hobart Hurricanes in BBL|07.
Cameron Boyce
Vastly underrated by the casual cricket watcher, Renegades fans know exactly how valuable Boyce is to the club’s prospects. He has taken 30 wickets from 30 matches, behind only Kane Richardson, Nathan Rimmington and Dwayne Bravo, and has a miserly economy rate of 6.91. It was Boyce who stepped up when it counted in the BBL|08 final, too, bowling the in-form Marcus Stoinis to halt the Stars’ momentum and turn the tide the Gades’ way.
The stat: Boyce isn’t just a brilliant bowler. He’s a dangerous hitter, too. In the 2018/19 title-winning campaign, Boyce scored 146 runs at a strike rate of 149, making him comfortably the fastest scorer for the Renegades.
Kane Richardson
The best hair, the best fast bowler. You can’t argue with facts like that. Since arriving at the club in 2017, Richardson has written himself into Renegades’ history, taking 61 wickets in 43 matches, easily the most of any player. His wicket tally is not only a product of playing plenty of matches, either. His strike rate of 16.2 balls per wicket is the best of any Renegades bowler with more than 15 wickets.
The stat: Richardson is both a top and tail operator. Fifty-two per cent of Richardson’s overs have come in the first six overs, and 35 per cent have come at the death.
Nathan Rimmington
One of the faces of the club in its early years, Rimmington was a wholehearted bowler who left everything out on Marvel Stadium. He took 34 wickets from 35 matches, with a best of 4-26, and was a model of consistency in all conditions.
The stat: Rimmington’s economy rate of 8.36 runs per over in the death overs is better than Richardson’s Bravo’s and Christian’s. Only Harry Gurney (8.09) returned a better economy rate in this phase of a match.
Muttiah Muralitharan
No player has taken more wickets in Test cricket, but that didn’t stop ‘Murali’ from bringing his talents to the Gades in the early years of the Big Bash. He delivered, too, taking 19 wickets from 16 matches at an incredible economy rate of 5.70 runs per over, comfortably the lowest ever for the Renegades.
The stat: Muralitharan’s average runs per wicket of 18.31 is the best of all-time for the Renegades.
12th man: Mohammad Nabi
Incredibly stiff not to make the final XI, Nabi has become one of the club’s best players in recent years. The Afghanistan international representative’s all-round feats have made him a fan favourite, thanks to his 25 wickets and 625 runs across 34 matches. ‘The President’ was on international duty when the team won the BBL|08 title, but it wouldn’t have made it had it not been for Nabi’s efforts earlier in the season.
The stat: Nabi’s importance to the club was underlined in his most recent outing, when he made a match winning unbeaten 71 from 41 deliveries against the Adelaide Strikers in January 2021.
Coach: Andrew McDonald
The club’s inaugural captain became its first title-winning coach when McDonald led the Renegades to victory over the Stars in BBL|08. Appointed ahead of BBL|06, McDonald served in the role for three seasons, earning a win-loss ratio of 57.14 per cent. He departed the club on the eve of BBL|09 when appointed assistant coach of the Australian men’s team.
