Melbourne Stars find a new mix for 2020 to take them to the top of the WBBL

In the five seasons since the Women’s Big Bash began, the Melbourne Stars are the only team to have never made the finals.

Last year, they suffered their worst result, finishing last with only two wins on the board.

And for two summers before that, they finished in second-last place.

But all of that could change in WBBL06.

Right now, the Stars sit in top spot. Three points clear at the top of the ladder.

At the beginning of the season, they were the team most impacted by Sydney’s rain, with three of their opening matches washed out and abandoned.

But since then, their side has been undefeated.

Earlier this week, they beat the Adelaide Strikers for the second time this season, to seal a club record of five consecutive victories.

And now, they only likely need to win one of their remaining six matches to snag a semi-finals spot.

So how have they turned it around?

A beautiful balance

Even for a casual cricket fan, signing Meg Lanning may seem an obvious road to success.

This year, the Stars were able to lure her back from the Perth Scorchers on a three-year deal.

And as it stands, the Australian captain has made four fifties in the competition — the most of any batter.

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Lanning has taken back her role as Stars skipper this year and continues to build a strong platform for their innings, with opening teammate and fellow Victorian representative Elyse Villani.

Villani too, has spent time at the Stars and Scorchers during her WBBL career — and cheekily suggested she may be the real reason Lanning returned.

“Everyone always asks me if I enjoy batting with Meg, but I think it’s the other way around to be honest,” she told the ABC.

Jokes aside, Villani says part of the pair’s success comes down to being comfortable — having the freedom to have some fun with batting depth behind them.

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“I think we’ve got a really strong friendship and we complement each other,” she said.

“We’ve spent a lot of time batting together so we know each other’s games really well, which makes it easy.”

The signing of experienced English internationals Nat Sciver and Katherine Brunt have also bolstered their bowling attack.

Sciver is the current leading wicket-taker in the competition (12 wickets at 4/29) and has displayed some serious skill batting at number four.

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Meanwhile, South African Mignon du Preez’s ability to build solid partnerships at third drop — aiming to score a run a ball and set the tempo — has meant the Stars have only lost between two and four wickets in the majority of their games.

A fresh coaching mentality

Someone who acutely understands the value of marquee players is Stars head coach Trent Woodhill.

Apart from being the man David Warner has turned to for batting advice over the past 12 years, Woodhill has spent time coaching in the IPL, with New Zealand cricket and most recently with the Australian men’s team on their tour of England.

He also had a hand in the development of players like Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry in the late 2000s, during his time at the NSW Breakers.

“The way he instils confidence in every player in the squad is unique,” Villani said.

“He’s travelled around the world and got a lot of coaching experience, and the way he talks about hunting boundaries and chasing the game… We really seem to be responding to that encouragement, to go after it and not be afraid to fail.”

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Woodhill is regarded as an innovator, working with the ECB to help establish the Hundred competition and appointed this year as the BBL’s first global player acquisition manager.

Beyond that, he is really passionate about empowering women in their pursuit of cricket — his first protégé was actually his younger sister Fiona, who still plays in Sydney.

“I think the key difference about the Stars this year, is that we’re empowering youth. And the beauty of strong, empowered women is that they grow and learn really quickly.”

You can hear a genuine belief in Woodhill’s voice when he speaks about these players, and the enthusiasm he has for their potential is quite endearing.

“We’ve got a strong group of senior players, but around that we’ve got young players on the move.

“Nic Faltum at 20, reminds me so much of Alyssa Healy at 20.

“Tess Flintoff is so understated at 17 and took a wicket against the Strikers the other day to knock over their best player, [Laura] Wolvaardt, which was huge.”

The Melbourne Stars will face the Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Renegades this weekend at the Sydney Showground. Tune into ABC Grandstand to hear the call.