White completes crosstown defection amid Stars reshuffle

Cameron White has completed his crosstown defection to the Melbourne Stars, with the club today unveiling him as their new men's head coach for the next three seasons.

White replaces Peter Moores, who will remain with the Stars in KFC BBL|16 for the final year of his contract in a director of coaching role.

White had led Melbourne Renegades for the past two seasons but moves to the Stars as part of a Cricket Victoria restructure ahead of their intended 100 per cent sale of the Renegades licence to a private investor.

"This is a really exciting uplift for the Melbourne Stars, where we're able to have multiple high calibre coaches working in our BBL program," said general manager James Rosengarten. 

"We are investing heavily into the club, and this coaching department is of the highest quality.

"Cam has gained a wide range of experience as a player and coach and is an outstanding tactical coach with a huge work rate.

"Peter's return shows just how committed he is to achieving success with the Stars and this new role is designed to add an extra layer of expertise for our players and coaching department."

The Englishman joined the Stars ahead of BBL|13 and has led the club to consecutive finals appearances in the past two campaigns, ending the team's run of four straight seasons without a top four finish.

The reshuffle has seen the Renegades appoint former dual Australia and New Zealand international Luke Ronchi as their men's coach for BBL|16.

The 'Gades, who remain funded by CV but will now be run independently away from the state body's Junction Oval headquarters until a sale is finalised, are also searching for a new women's head coach after Simon Helmot stepped down in May to join Gulf Giants in the United Arab Emirates T20 league.

The Stars, meanwhile, will be the only Big Bash entity operated by CV going forward.

CV's longer-term vision is to rebrand the Stars franchise into a 'Melbourne' team with a new moniker and playing kit, but the organisation ran out of time to make the changes they wanted ahead of the coming summer. Both the Stars and Renegades will take the field in their traditional green and red colours respectively in WBBL|12 and BBL|16.

White was the inaugural captain of the Stars and led the club to semi-final appearances in BBL|01, |03 and |04, while also playing in their BBL|02 semi-final loss to the Scorchers when Shane Warne was skipper.

Perhaps the allrounder's finest performance for the club was in the second Melbourne derby of BBL|03 when he earned player of the match honours for his unbeaten 84 off 49 balls to lead the Stars chase of 164 on enemy turf at Docklands.

After four seasons in green, he switched to the Renegades in BBL|05, where his four-year stint culminated in their remarkable BBL|08 championship win over the Stars.

White has previously spent time as an assistant coach with Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Sixers following his playing career before returning to the 'Gades as head coach ahead of BBL|14.

He is currently at the helm of the CV-partnered San Francisco Unicorns who finished the United States' Major League Cricket regular season at the top of the standings before being knocked out of the playoffs in straight sets.

The Stars will also appoint a new women's head coach for Weber WBBL|12 with Andy Christie to step back into an assistant role.

Christie led the Stars back to the WBBL finals last year in his only season at the helm, finishing fourth before losing the Knockout to the third-ranked Perth Scorchers at the WACA Ground.