Opinion
A reigning champion has fallen to 0-5 in a season that spans just 14 matches.
It’s the same as an AFL premier losing their first eight games of the season, and while the Big Bash is a little more bubblegum and popcorn than the AFL, the Renegades’ disastrous start to BBL09 deserves to be spoken about.
The lack of emotional attachment between fans and franchises in the Big Bash allows poor starts, thumping losses and even finals heartbreak to fly under the radar. Greg Davidson’s umpiring blunder on Sunday night gathered more talk than the Renegades’ fourth consecutive loss.
So let’s talk about it.
In one season, the Renegades have gone from winning their first BBL title to winless through five games.
Though they remained competitive in their first two matches with many – including new head coach Michael Klinger – expecting the reigning champions to turn their form around, the Renegades struggled to create a contest in their recent losses to the Hurricanes, Strikers and Sixers.
Perhaps last year’s success story was nothing more than a one-off, with the backbone of the Renegades’ championship-winning XI remaining intact over the off-season, and the team only losing a couple of well-known names in Cam White (Strikers) and Chris Tremain (Thunder).
But the addition of one of the BBL’s most damaging batsmen in Shaun Marsh had many convinced the Gades were ready to do it all again, with a none-from-five start never a consideration.
Yet, here they are. Dead last on the table, 20 games into the season.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
So, what’s gone wrong?
The Renegades feature three batsmen in the top ten scorers for the season, which along with the fourth-best average innings total, should equate to a better record than 0-5.
However, it’s been a tournament riddled with small yet costly mistakes that have continued to frustrate Melbourne fans since their first loss, with these mistakes covering all facets of the game.
Dropped catches and misfields single-handedly cost the Renegades their first match of the season against the Thunder and also prevented them from controlling the match at the death against the Sixers. The Renegades are continuously failing to put pressure on any batsmen due to their poor fielding.
When mixed with their under-performing bowling attack – Kane Richardson excluded – opponents have cruised to victory without ever looking pressured. On the other hand, the Renegades batsmen cheaply give away their wicket as soon as the required run rate starts to rise.
No collapse this season was greater than the one dubbed the dumbest over of batting ever seen by the Fox Cricket commentators when, against the Strikers, the Renegades threw three wickets away in one over to collapse from 2-86 to 5-89, falling to their fourth loss of the season.
The Renegades’ struggles this season have also been masked by their -0.441 net run rate, which is surprisingly good for a 0-5 side.
Matches like the one against Hobart on Christmas Eve, when D’Arcy Short and Ben McDermott jogged their way to victory in the final over, have made the Renegades seem more competitive than they truly are.
After their first two losses, Michael Klinger was confident his new side could quickly turn things around, but three games and three losses later – as captain Aaron Finch and leading wicket-taker Kane Richardson prepare to leave for India – it seems as though the BBL08 Renegades were nothing more than a one-hit wonder.
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