Saker was under contract for next season, but the Renegades
are poised to look for a new coach after another poor BBL season.
Melbourne Renegades are ready to cut ways with BBL coach David Saker, despite
having a year left on his contract following another disappointing season in
which they placed eighth.
Saker, 57, was set to coach the Renegades for the 2024-25 season, his fourth in
charge since taking over in 2021. However, following a dismal season in which
Renegades finished second worst and won only two games, as well as the
dismissal of captain Nic Maddinson, Renegades are expected to seek a fresh
start once more, with Saker's stint certain to expire early.
Renegades have been the BBL's poorest performing club since Andrew McDonald led
them to their first title in 2018-19. McDonald departed the position soon after
winning the title, joining the Australian squad as an assistant before becoming
national head coach in 2022.
Michael Klinger took over as Renegades coach for the 2019-20 season but lasted
only two summers as the team finished last in the BBL for two consecutive
seasons. Klinger left to take on an administrative role with Cricket New South
Wales.
Saker was brought in for 2021-22, but the Renegades finished last for the third
consecutive year before rebounding to finish third in 2022-23, winning seven
games and hosting the Knockout, where they were defeated by eventual finalists
Brisbane Heat.
However, Renegades saw another setback in 2023-24. They went
winless in their first five games and only won two of their final five. They
had a large churn of players, with Maddinson removed as captain and Aaron Finch
in and out of the team before retiring from the BBL. Shaun Marsh retired after
only playing five games due to injury.
Renegades have already made several roster changes this offseason, including
signing Brisbane Heat opener Josh Brown in the hopes of forming a powerful
opening tandem with Jake Fraser-McGurk.
Renegades are also looking to hire a new high-performance manager to oversee the cricket program. The Melbourne Stars have advertised for a comparable position. Cricket Victoria established the two posts to try to strengthen the connectivity between the Victoria men's program and the two Victoria BBL clubs, which have been run as three independent entities with little connection in recent years.
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