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Stars look for fresh leadership as general manager steps down

Blair Crouch has resigned from the Melbourne Stars after four seasons as general manager

Blair Crouch has stepped down as Melbourne Stars general manager after four seasons in charge of the club.

Crouch, who oversaw the Stars return to finals in KFC BBL|14, says it's time for a fresh face to take the club into the future following a challenging four years at the helm.

He was appointed general manager in May 2021, navigating the club through the tail end of the Covid pandemic in 2021-22 where the club lost 10 men's players and eight support staff for a BBL|11 clash with Perth Scorchers due to isolation requirements.

But despite boasting some of the most talented male and female players in the country on their lists, the Stars reached the finals just once across a combined eight WBBL and BBL seasons during Crouch's time at the club.

The Stars also had two men's and two women's head coaches during his tenure.

Crouch thanked Cricket Victoria and the Stars for the "opportunity to lead one of the biggest sporting clubs in the country".

"When I arrived at the club, the world was in the depths of the pandemic and to see the Stars and the league more broadly, thrive this summer, is a wonderful achievement and testament to everyone who worked tirelessly over my time at the club," he said in a statement released by the club this afternoon.

"The time has come for someone else to steer the ship and I wish nothing but the best for the Stars and I look forward to being in the stands in WBBL|11 and BBL|15."

Crouch's successor will be tasked with revitalising the club's women's program that finished last in Weber WBBL|10 with just two wins and hasn't qualified for finals since WBBL|06, the season before he took over.

The club are yet to announce a new women's head coach after parting ways with Jonathan Batty following their disastrous WBBL|10 campaign.

The Englishman took over from Jarrad Loughman ahead of WBBL|08 but after finishing fifth in the year immediately preceding his appointment, the Stars ended up placed sixth, seventh, and ultimately, last under Batty.

There's also work to do on the men's side for the new general manager to capitalise on a strong finish to BBL|14 where the Stars won their last five games of the regular season to reach the finals for the first time since losing to Sydney Sixers in the BBL|09 decider.

The Stars have been active in the inaugural BBL Player Movement Window that opened last Tuesday following the Final, securing fast bowler Liam Hatcher's return on a two-year deal but lucking out in their approaches to Mitch Marsh and Tim David who are set to remain with their respective clubs.

They've also lost Test allrounder Beau Webster who returns home to BBL|14 champions Hobart Hurricanes on a three-year deal.

"There's areas we need to develop either internally through our own system or bring somebody in," men's head coach Peter Moores said.

"We targeted two or three areas that we'd like to strengthen; those conversations are ongoing.

"We've already had two or three players knock us back."

Moores believes the core of the men's list will remain the together as they look to build on their consistency and starting the season better in BBL|15 after dropping their first five games of the BBL|14 campaign.

"I'm looking forward to watching the evolution of the team," Moores said.

Unstoppable Maxwell fires Stars past 200

"There's progression within some of the players that aren't the senior men that are maybe frustrated with some of their season this year; it's a chance for them to go away and work at that and come back with more next year.

"Hopefully we can get 'Maxi' (Glenn Maxwell) continually playing like he played that back half of this year because that was some of some of the best batting you'll ever see in T20 cricket.

"It's surgical, the way he does it is brilliant to watch."

The Hurricanes BBL|14 title win leaves the Stars as the only Big Bash club without any men's or women's silverware after 14 years of the city-based competition.

Crouch will remain at the club until the end of his notice period as Cricket Victoria commences the search a new general manager in the coming months.