Melbourne Stars Cricket Team Guide
Being amongst the 8 founding members of the Big Bash League back in 2011, the Melbourne Stars are a franchise team based in the southern Australian city of Melbourne in the state of Victoria.
Melbourne Stars Cricket Team Background
Recognisable partially thanks to their distinct green and black jerseys, the Melbourne sides are one of two teams hailing from their respective city. The team were founded back in 2011 following the announcement of the Big Bash League and have one of the the most unique mascots, Steven Seagul, which posthumously honours a seagull that was struck down by a cricket ball during a match between the Starts and Perth Scorchers.
Where Do Melbourne Stars Play?
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is the biggest cricket ground in Australia and is the home ground of the Melbourne Stars. This ground has a capacity of 100,000 and is the second biggest cricket stadium in the world, just behind the Narendra Modi Stadium. Unsurprisingly, due to its size, the ground is one of the primary ones used by the Australia cricket team for ODIs and other international matches.
Melbourne Stars Players
Melbourne Stars have had a number of highly notable Australians play for them over the years, with some of the biggest names being Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Hilton Cartwright, Adam Zampa and John Hastings.
There have also been some key overseas players who have played for the Melbourne Stars, with Luke Wright of the England cricket team, Pakistan’s Haris Rauf, Sri Lanka national cricket team star bowler Lasith Malinga and Ireland’s Nick Larkin being some standout names.
Memorable Games For The Melbourne Stars Cricket Team
The 2019-20 Big Bash season was arguably the Melbourne Stars best at that time, with prior years seeing them consistently fall short in the semi finals and somewhat struggle in the league standings in the lead up to play offs. However, this year, the Melbourne Stars finished first in the table, winning 10 of their 14 matches.
In the semi-finals, the Melbourne Stars would face off against the Sydney Thunder at their home ground. The home side won the toss, electing to bat first. A highly impressive performance would follow at the crease, with the team in green only conceding 2 wickets in total. Most notably, Nick Larkin would score 83 runs not out from 49 balls as the Stars finished on 194/2. In response, the Sydney Thunder aimed to chase down the target but were halted by the home side’s consistent bowlers. Haris Rauf claimed 3 wickets from 17 balls as the Sydney Thunder lost by 28 runs in the end.
However, in the final, the Melbourne Stars would play the Sydney Sixers in their home ground, the rivals of the team they had just defeated. Due to heavy rain though, the match was reduced to 12 overs per team. Fielding first, the Victoria side managed to limit their New South Wales neighbours to 116//5, a total which seemed rather feasible. Despite this, the Stars struggled to get going at the crease, only managing 97 runs in total, losing the final by 19 runs. Although they couldn’t claim their first Big Bash title that season, it was still arguably their most impressive and competitive season at the time.
Rivals Of The Melbourne Stars Cricket Team
One of the fiercest rivalries in the Big Bash League is between the Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades. Each year, this intercity clash sees the two sides battle it out to try and claim dominance.
