Melbourne’s two Big Bash League teams are set to be merged into one side run by Cricket Victoria, with staff told on Tuesday that the Stars and Renegades would be combined as part of Cricket Australia’s revamp of the T20 competition.
The move would reshape one of the league’s biggest markets and could soon settle the question of what becomes of the Melbourne Stars brand. Under the current rules, the merged team would still be called Melbourne rather than Victoria, would play at the MCG and would likely wear navy blue. Last week, Code Sports reported that Bushrangers had been considered as a possible new name.
SEN’s Tom Morris reported that the change would leave Cricket Victoria in charge of a single Melbourne team after years of overseeing both franchises. The second licence would be sold, and it is also expected to be renamed, but which Melbourne licence goes on the market has not been confirmed. The Renegades won the 2018-19 championship, while the Stars have never lifted a BBL title and have finished runner-up three times.
That sale is landing even as Cricket Australia’s wider privatisation plan remains on hold. In April, the push was paused after Queensland joined New South Wales in rejecting the proposal, even though Cricket Australia remains keen on a partial privatisation model. Victoria is effectively moving in that direction anyway, with cricket chief executive Todd Greenberg saying the federated structure makes the issue hard to manage across six member states.
Greenberg said New South Wales and Queensland were “certainly not supportive of private capital,” adding that New South Wales had “an alternative model to self-fund it” and that Queensland did not. He said South Australia was “in a hybrid situation,” while Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania were “very strong and very supportive” of private capital. “So if you're sitting in my shoes, with a federated model and six members, that's why it's difficult,” he said.
Privatisation would bring cash in the short term and could eventually tie BBL sides more closely to counterparts in other international T20 competitions. It would also risk leaving state bodies with less control over the teams and any future profits. For Melbourne, the immediate issue is simpler: a merger has been flagged, staff have already been told, and the next decision will shape which club name survives and who buys the spare licence.
