Melbourne Renegades poised to release head coach David Saker

After taking over the helm for Melbourne Renegades in 2021, the upcoming Big Bash League (BBL) 2024-25 season would've been head coach of Renegades, David Saker's fourth season with the franchise. 

After winning the Big Bash League for the first time in the 2018-19 season under the tutelage of Andrew McDonald, Michael Klinger came into the mix replacing the former, who left for the role of an assistant coach for the Australian team before being upgraded to head coach in 2022. However, he could only last two seasons. Renegades finished at the bottom of the heap in 2019-20 and the season following that, registering their worst positions in the league since finishing up in seventh place in the inaugural season back in 2011-12. 

Post the appointment of David Saker, nothing seemed to have changed for the side, with them finishing eighth in the 2021-22 season for a third straight season. There was a turn of fortunes in the season which followed, where they came third winning seven games and losing as many. However, it wasn't to be the year for the Renegades as they lost out to Brisbane Heat, the eventual runners-up of the 2022-23 edition. The 2023-24 season was severely underwhelming once again, with the group being winless in their first five games coupled with only managing to win two in their last five.

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Nic Maddinson was axed from the role of captaincy in the middle of the tournament, and Aaron Finch was in and out of the squad after having a lukewarm campaign. Eventually, Finch called it time on his BBL career while Shaun Marsh only managed five games due to recurrent injury issues leading to the eternal conflagration.

Josh Brown roped in as an opener by Melbourne Renegades

After a buoyant run in the previous season of the BBL for 30-year-old opener Josh Brown which saw him standing second in the list for the top-run getters, Renegades made an enterprising call to acquire the services of the former Brisbane Heat opener. The franchise will be hoping to assemble into a robust opening pair with young sensation, Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Also Read: Melbourne Renegades rope in hard-hitting Josh Brown on two-year deal

Notably, the youngster who is currently the cynosure of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL) has been in sublime touch and causing some headaches for the Australian selectors in lieu of the upcoming mega event, which is slated for June later this year.