Melbourne Stars are an Australian Twenty20 franchise cricket team, based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in Australia's Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League.[1] The Stars wear a green uniform and play their home matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Starman & Starlet are two of the official mascots of the Melbourne Stars. In BBL|05 the Stars introduced a secondary mascot, Steven Seagull, the year after a seagull was struck with a cricket ball hit by Perth Scorchers batsman Adam Voges during a match between Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers in BBL|04 while the Stars were fielding at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Rob Quiney, who was the first to the scene, immediately signalled that he feared the worst for the stricken bird as it lay motionless on the ground, before he delicately carried it over the boundary rope and placed it back on the turf. But just minutes later, the bird came back to life and started the walk along the boundary line, much to the delight of the huge MCG crowd.[2]
The squad of the Melbourne Stars for the 2023–24 Big Bash League season as of 15 January 2024.
The current administration and support staff of the Melbourne Stars for the 2024–25 Big Bash League season as of 23 June 2024.
Current captain listed in bold.
When the league began in 2011, Cricket Australia decided they would place two teams in Melbourne. With the core group of players for both sides coming from the Victoria cricket team, this rivalry automatically became widely anticipated in Melbourne.[citation needed] The derby between the new two teams, the Stars and the Melbourne Renegades, quickly became hugely popular with big crowds flocking in to the derby matches at both the MCG and Docklands Stadium.[citation needed] In BBL05, during the first leg of the two derbies at the MCG, it drew a record crowd of 80,883 which is the highest crowd for any domestic cricket match ever in the history of the sport.[4]