Melbourne Stars are one of the teams in Australia’s premier T20 competition – the Big Bash League (BBL). The franchise represents Melbourne in the league.

The Stars play their home matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the largest cricket stadium in the world. Currently, Glenn Maxwell is the captain of the side while Stephen Fleming is the head coach. Stars are one of the most consistent sides in the leagues but unfortunately they are yet to lift the trophy. In the first six seasons, they made it to the semifinal four times and final on one occasion.

History:

2011-12 season:

The Stars began their journey in the BBL under the captaincy of Cameron White. They started the season with a six-wicket loss to Sydney Thunders before bouncing back and beating Brisbane Heat in the following game. However, they lost the following games which put their season in danger. However, three consecutive wins put their season back on track as they made it to the semifinal. But they failed to make it to the final as they lost to Perth Scorchers.

2012-13 season:

For the second year in a row, the Stars made it to the semifinal.  The season started on a poor note for the Stars as they lost the opener by 8 wickets to city-rivals Melbourne Renegades. However, four wins on the trot put them very much in command. They went on to finish the season with 5 wins out of eight games and made it to the last-four. But their hopes of making it to the final was ended by Perth Scorchers.

2013-14 season:

The third season saw Melbourne Stars create history. The two-time semifinalists at that stage stormed into the semifinal by winning each and every game of the league stage. Every team that came their way suffered the same cruel fate. However, Stars once again failed to break their semifinal-jinx and ended up losing to Hobart Hurricanes. While they crushed every team in the league stage, they suffered the same fate in the semifinal, losing the game by seven wickets.

2014-15 season:

When the fourth season of the BBL began, it looked like the Stars’ streak of appearing in semifinal will come to an end.  They ended up on the losing side in the first three games of the season.  They then thrashed Melbourne Renegades by 112 runs to get their campaign back on track. The Stars then went on to win the remaining four games to storm into the last four. However, they once again suffered a heartbreaking loss in the semifinal, losing to eventual winners Perth Scorchers by 18 runs.

2015-16 season:

The Stars once again made a poor start to the season. They lost the first two games of the season to Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Strikers. However, they once again bounced back in style and won the next four games to bring their season back on track. They ended the league stage at second position with five wins in 8 games. In the semifinal, they beat defending champions Perth Scorchers to enter the final after losing in semifinal in the previous four seasons. But their dreams of lifting the trophy was ended by Sydney Thunder.

2016-17:

Melbourne Stars did not show enough consistency in the sixth season but managed to win four games to advance to the semifinal for the sixth season in a row. They ended the league stage at the fourth position after registering 4 wins in 8 games. But their old knack of losing in the semifinal once again came back to haunt them as they lost to Perth Scorchers.

2017-18:

The last edition of the BBL was Stars’ worst-ever season in the competition so far.  By the time the competition reached its mid-stage, the Stars were very much out of contention to progress to the next stage. They lost their first five games and eventually ended up with just two wins in ten games to finish at the bottom of the ladder.

Here are some other details about the team:

Most runs:

 

Player Span Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave
LJ Wright 2011-2018 57 57 6 1479 117 29
KP Pietersen 2014-2018 33 33 3 1110 76 37
GJ Maxwell 2012-2018 37 35 5 973 84 32.43
DJ Hussey 2011-2017 48 41 9 855 52 26.71
RJ Quiney 2011-2018 39 36 3 793 97 24.03
CL White 2011-2015 34 33 2 615 88 19.83
BJ Hodge 2012-2014 18 15 2 561 88 43.15
JP Faulkner 2011-2018 45 36 17 531 47* 27.94
MP Stoinis 2013-2018 28 26 5 493 99 23.47
PSP Handscomb 2012-2018 30 26 11 453 103* 30.2
MS Wade 2011-2014 16 14 4 287 53* 28.7
EP Gulbis 2016-2018 16 12 5 205 61* 29.28
JW Hastings 2012-2018 38 23 8 190 22 12.66
SE Gotch 2017-2018 8 8 0 151 48 18.87
BR Dunk 2017-2018 10 10 0 115 47 11.5
GJ Bailey 2011-2012 8 7 1 114 33 19
TIF Triffitt 2014-2015 10 9 5 91 25* 22.75
AC Voges 2011-2012 6 5 0 79 31 15.8
BW Hilfenhaus 2015-2017 17 10 3 57 32* 8.14
DJ Worrall 2014-2018 13 6 3 48 16 16
CJ McKay 2011-2015 23 9 6 41 14* 13.66
A Zampa 2015-2018 20 10 3 40 15 5.71
SM Boland 2014-2018 25 10 7 28 8* 9.33
MA Beer 2014-2018 32 6 6 13 7*
AR Keath 2013-2015 4 2 0 10 6 5
SB Harper 2016-2017 5 4 0 10 5 2.5
CP Simpson 2011-2012 3 1 1 8 8*
SO Henry 2012-2012 1 1 0 6 6 6
JM Muirhead 2014-2014 4 2 1 6 6 6
Mohammad Hafeez 2014-2014 1 1 0 4 4 4
SL Malinga 2012-2014 13 3 2 4 2* 4
JM Bird 2012-2015 24 3 1 3 3 1.5
AD Mascarenhas 2013-2013 2 1 0 1 1 1
CA Rose 2012-2014 4 3 1 1 1* 0.5
SK Warne 2011-2013 15 1 1 0 0*

 

Most wickets:

 

Player Span Mat Inns Overs Mdns Runs Wkts Econ
JW Hastings 2012-2018 38 38 134.5 1 1062 50 1/6
JP Faulkner 2011-2018 45 45 137.4 3 1052 44 7.64
SM Boland 2014-2018 25 25 90.1 0 764 31 1/7
JM Bird 2012-2015 24 24 87.3 2 626 28 7.15
CJ McKay 2011-2015 23 23 81.4 1 655 24 1/7
BW Hilfenhaus 2015-2017 17 17 56 0 457 22 1/7
MA Beer 2014-2018 32 32 111.3 0 752 22 6.74
MP Stoinis 2013-2018 28 22 54 0 459 19 1/7
A Zampa 2015-2018 20 20 74.4 0 530 19 1/6
SL Malinga 2012-2014 13 13 50 2 270 18 1/4
DJ Hussey 2011-2017 48 15 32 0 240 12 1/6
GJ Maxwell 2012-2018 37 21 42 0 327 12 1/6
DJ Worrall 2014-2018 13 13 46.3 0 416 12 1/7
SK Warne 2011-2013 15 14 47 0 341 11 1/6
EP Gulbis 2016-2018 16 16 36 0 282 8 1/6
L Bowe 2017-2018 6 6 19 0 171 6 9
LJ Wright 2011-2018 57 15 27.2 0 243 6 1/7
JR Coleman 2018-2018 6 6 15.2 0 111 5 1/6
CL White 2011-2015 34 3 6 0 47 2 1/6
AD Mascarenhas 2013-2013 2 2 7 0 54 2 1/6
JM Muirhead 2014-2014 4 4 11 0 68 2 1/5
BR Dunk 2017-2018 10 1 2 0 19 1 1/8
CP Simpson 2011-2012 3 1 3 0 25 1 1/7
JW Dernbach 2011-2011 2 2 8 0 80 1 10
CA Rose 2012-2014 4 4 12 0 121 1 1/9
KP Pietersen 2014-2018 33 2 2 0 20 0 10
Mohammad Hafeez 2014-2014 1 1 3 0 22 0 7.33
CJ Gannon 2017-2017 1 1 2 0 26 0 13
AR Keath 2013-2015 4 1 1 0 27 0 27
D Fallins 2018-2018 2 2 5 0 44 0 8.8

 

Most dismissals as wicketkeeper:

 

Player Span Mat Inns Dismissals Catches Stumping
PSP Handscomb 2012-2018 30 26 22 16 6
MS Wade 2011-2014 16 16 14 12 2
TIF Triffitt 2014-2015 10 10 10 10 0
SB Harper 2016-2017 5 4 3 2 1
RJ Quiney 2011-2018 39 3 2 2 0
BR Dunk 2017-2018 10 2 1 1 0
SE Gotch 2017-2018 8 3 0 0 0

 

Current squad:

 

Michael Beer
Jackson Bird
Scott Boland
Liam Bowe
Dwayne Bravo (OS)
Jackson Coleman
Travis Dean
Ben Dunk
Sebastian Gotch
Evan Gulbis
Peter Handscomb
Sandeep Lamichhane (OS)
Nic Maddison
Glenn Maxwell
Jonathan Merlo
Liam Plunkett (late season replacement for Lamichhane)
Marcus Stoinis
Daniel Worrall
Adam Zampa

 

*Stats and squad updated before the start of BBL 2018-19

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