His “cap ceremony”, handing out the Stars insignia to the debutants – Rogers, Wakim, Avendano and Crone – was a moment of significance, also more than a little mirth. Maxwell, proudly a representative of Fitzroy Doncaster whenever he gets the chance, admitted to meeting several of his teammates for the first time in the Junction Oval nets. On Sunday, as COVID-19 continued to play havoc with summer, that’s more or less exactly what was required to get a Melbourne Stars XI onto the field to play the Perth Scorchers.Ĭrone (0-16 from two overs), Rogers (32 from 25 balls), Wakim (20 from 24 balls) and Avendano (6 from 5 balls) all gave it their best shot in the circumstances.īut as it turned out, all the batters were dismissed by international standard opponents – England’s Tymal Mills, Jason Behrendorff and Agar as the Stars (130 in 18.5 overs) fell well short of Perth’s 8-180.Īt least (and you could probably have heard the relieved sighs of broadcasters from the moon) the Stars were still captained by Glenn Maxwell, arguably the biggest name in the BBL itself.

Avendano’s last hit, a sprightly century at North Sydney Oval, did not necessarily prepare him for the wiles of Australia’s T20 spin bowler Ashton Agar.Įver since the men’s Big Bash League expanded Australian cricket’s footprint from six state teams to eight city-based clubs, the competition has weathered occasional flak about dipping too deeply into the ranks of grade cricketers. But it was something more of a hike for Wakim (Lindisfarne and Tasmania) and Justin Avendano (North Sydney) to make their way into the Stars’ camp.

Scorchers movie cast