Photo Credit: Melbourne Renegades
Melbourne Renegades coach David Saker says his side are exploring all options to improve their batting.
The Renegades have mustered totals of just 122, 105 and 80 in their past three matches to slip to the bottom of the BBL|11 ladder.
“The effort, the endeavour, the preparation… everything’s going the way we want it to go, but we’re just not getting the results,” Saker said, after Thursday night’s Melbourne Derby loss to the Stars.
“It’s very disappointing. It hasn’t been good enough, we can’t shy away from that.
“We know where we are at the moment and we’re nowhere near where we need to be. It’s disappointing, but we’re going to keep working hard.
“We’ve got an outside chance to still make (the finals) and that’s the great thing – there’s still something there for us (to focus on).”
The Renegades remain in contention for finals – but would need to win their final two games, against the Hurricanes and Thunder, and need other results to land in their favour.
After being without Shaun Marsh, Aaron Finch and new skipper Nic Maddinson in the early stages of the season, the Renegades now have their full-strength batting line-up back together.
But it hasn’t clicked together in recent games.
“The first few games of the season we probably were a little bit decimated with experience, but we’ve got it all back now – particularly with the bat – we should be performing a lot better than we are,” Saker said.
“We’re working really hard. The players, their effort cannot be faulted. Their endeavour and wanting to contribute is there.
“But our decision-making under pressure at times has been poor and thinking through problem-solving the way through the innings, we just haven’t done that. The best players in T20 cricket solve problems… it’s tough at different times and we just haven’t been able to find a way through the tough times.”
With two games remaining, Saker said the group remained as driven as ever to find a solution.
“We know we’ve got the talent there, that’s the disappointing thing… The coaches, the players, we’re all looking at each other saying ‘what can we do better’,” he said.
“It’s not like we’re taking our foot off the pedal. We want to keep getting better and it’s frustrating for everyone at the moment.”
