Cross-town twist leaves Klinger seeing red

The signing of Michael Klinger as head coach has not only boosted the Melbourne Renegades but deprived their arch rivals Melbourne Stars one of T20 cricket's sharpest minds.

Klinger was announced yesterday as Andrew McDonald's successor at the Renegades but on Wednesday the new coach revealed he was planning on wearing green this summer with the Stars before things quickly changed.

"Originally, I was the batting coach of the Melbourne Stars," Klinger said today.

"That was put in place about five or six months ago, working with Dave Hussey (Stars head coach) and that group.

“And when this role came up, (the Stars) were great. Dave was great in (me) going for the role, saying 'if you get it will be great for your career going forward'.

"My original plan was to be travelling with the Melbourne Stars, but that's changed over the last few days."

Klinger steps into the role replacing McDonald, who has joined the Australian Men's Team as an assistant coach having guided the Renegades to the BBL|08 title, which culminated in a dramatic win over the Stars in the final. 

The 39-year-old has piled on the runs in T20 competitions in Australia and England and has won four domestic T20 tournaments on home soil, the last two as part of the dominant Perth Scorchers outfit in BBL|04 and BBL|06.

Given his success at the Scorchers, Klinger says he will look to bring his learnings from Perth into the Renegades locker room.

"The biggest thing is getting the group really close together as quick as you can," Klinger said.

"Andrew McDonald was very good at that. With only a few (personnel) changes, we've already got a camaraderie within the group, a good atmosphere and culture.

"It will be a tweaking at the start and the guys getting to know me well at the start of the tournament."

Renegades captain Aaron Finch was part of the interview process that recruited Klinger and said his new coach’s work in England with county club Gloucestershire was the deciding factor.

For the past seven years, Klinger has captained Gloucs in England's domestic T20 competition, taking the team from cellar dwellers to title contenders while leading with the bat.

"What really won everyone over was the experience 'Maxy' has had a Gloucestershire," Finch said.

"He's sort of run their T20 program, a lot of captaincy experience and then to ultimately take a side that on paper wasn't the highest-profile side and to continually make the finals with Gloucestershire, I think his experience in that regard shone through."