Big Bash shock: Melbourne Stars and Renegades set to merge

Cricket Victoria will kill off the Melbourne Stars and Renegades brands to merge them into one team under the state banner, informing staff of the intended change on Tuesday afternoon.

The second BBL licence owned by CV will be sold in its entirety to a private investor, pending approval of Cricket Australia’s plans to allow for a phased “self-determination model” for the sale of stakes in BBL clubs by state associations.

This masthead has confirmed the announcement made to shocked staff, first reported by SEN, was made on Tuesday afternoon at Junction Oval by CV chief executive Nick Cummins.

“There are a couple of bridges that need to be crossed before the sale goes ahead,” Cummins told this masthead.

Contacted about the merger, CA stated: “We are still working with states on private investment models.”

The merger will make three current members of staff redundant, while others move from the Renegades into the larger entity. The new club will be run by current Melbourne Renegades general manager James Rosengarten.

Melbourne Stars general manager Max Abbott will serve as caretaker general manager for the Renegades, pending a final approval for the sale of the licence to a private investor.

Should the sale to a private investor not go ahead in time for this season, the second Melbourne team will still compete in the BBL as the Melbourne Renegades.

The playing lists of the Stars and the Renegades will remain separate, pending concurrent negotiations with the Australian Cricketers’ Association.

High-profile pair Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis are both long-term Stars players, while Victorian captain Will Sutherland, international spinners Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon and highly touted teenager Ollie Peake are just some of the players contracted to the Renegades.

But the decision to dissolve the boards, aimed at returning control of the clubs to CV more directly, unseated the Stars’ high-profile chair Eddie McGuire and his Renegades equivalent Jason Dunstall.

Since then, the Renegades have struggled for profitability, and have been in the process of negotiating new host venue arrangements after the expiry of their previous deal at Marvel Stadium.

The Stars have been the team of many luminaries over the years, from Shane Warne and Kevin Pietersen to Maxwell and Stoinis.

English cricket legend Andrew Flintoff has been tasked with inspiring the Sydney Thunder up the BBL ladder after his appointment as coach.

Following weeks of speculation, the reigning wooden spooners confirmed on Tuesday that Flintoff had signed a two-year deal to replace Trevor