Preview: Stars' middle-order balance key to success

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BBL|10 result: Seventh

Squad: Glenn Maxwell (c), Qais Ahmad (Afghanistan), Joe Burns, Hilton Cartwright, Joe Clarke (England), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sam Elliott, Syed Faridoun (Pakistan), Seb Gotch, Liam Hatcher, Clint Hinchcliffe, Nick Larkin, Tom O’Connell, Sam Rainbird, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Beau Webster, Adam Zampa

Ins: Qais Ahmad, Joe Burns (Brisbane Heat), Joe Clarke, Sam Elliott, Beau Webster (Melbourne Renegades), Syed Faridoun

Outs: Ben Dunk, Jackson Coleman, Andre Fletcher, Zahir Khan (Melbourne Renegades), Lance Morris (Perth Scorchers), Nic Maddinson (Melbourne Renegades), Nicholas Pooran, Will Pucovski

Possible Best XI: Marcus Stoinis, Joe Clarke (wk), Hilton Cartwright, Glenn Maxwell, Joe Burns, Beau Webster, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Liam Hatcher, Adam Zampa, Billy Stanlake, Qais Ahmad

Possible Best XI for first game: Marcus Stoinis, Joe Clarke (wk), Hilton Cartwright, Glenn Maxwell, Joe Burns, Beau Webster, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Liam Hatcher, Adam Zampa, Billy Stanlake, Qais Ahmad

With three newly crowned world champions on their list, the time is now for the Stars to stamp their authority on the competition.

After an uncharacteristically poor BBL|10, the Stars will be looking to bounce back this season and will be buoyed by the confidence of star trio Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis after their recent T20 World Cup triumph.

David Hussey will again coach the Stars and has confirmed English import Joe Clarke will take the keeping gloves for season opener against reigning champions the Sydney Sixers with last season's wicketkeeper Seb Gotch sidelined with a finger injury.

The Stars secured some big off-season signings, with Joe Burns heading south from the Brisbane Heat, and Beau Webster moving across town to join from the Melbourne Renegades. Clarke is another welcome addition to strengthen the Stars’ batting line up, while Afghan spinner Qais Ahmad could work in tandem with Zampa throughout the summer. They have also added young up and coming Pakistan spinner Syed Faridoun.

The loss of West Indian power hitters Andre Fletcher and Nicholas Pooran will leave big shoes to fill, but the addition of Burns, and the Stars’ Australian players will leave them feeling confident they can continue to post big totals.

The emerging Liam Hatcher will work with Billy Stanlake and Sam Rainbird in the fast-bowling stakes, while there is no shortage of allrounders on the Stars list, with Nathan Coulter-Nile, Hilton Cartwright and Clint Hinchcliffe all likely to play big roles.

Expectations will be high for the title-less Stars, with their big names looking to finally lead them to victory in the last game of a BBL season.

The inside word with Stars coach David Hussey

The off-season

"Last year was particularly disappointing, we started off really well and then it just sort of fell in a hole and we couldn't really get out of it. We've signed a couple of different players who can bat in the middle in Joe Burns and Beau Webster. Hopefully that strengthens up the middle-order and we're not too heavily reliant on Larkin, Stoinis and Maxwell. We've also signed Joe Clarke as an overseas player who will be excellent at opening the batting, so we've strengthened up in the areas that we really needed and hopefully they provide a little bit of class in the batting department and we can make big totals. I think we can go very deep in the tournament. Who knows if we're going to win it, but we're definitely going to give it a shake, especially with the talent that we have in our squad."

Players to watch

"The batters we have are Stoinis and Maxwell, but everyone talks about them. Last year Nick Larkin really played particularly consistently well. I truly believe that Joe Clarke's going to set this tournament alight. He's got the belief in his game and not to put too much pressure on him, but the way he's playing he's just a really level-headed kid who's ambitious, wants to play international cricket and believes he can play international cricket. With the ball, I really enjoy watching Adam Zampa bowl, he just keeps improving each year and he just shows the world that he, is in my humble opinion, the premier white ball bowler in the world."

The imports

"Joe (Clarke) will definitely start as the opening batter and keeping wickets. He has been working particularly hard since he arrived in Melbourne about two weeks ago, so he will definitely take the gloves and hopefully he does a good job. But with the bat we're just looking forward to him bringing the form that he's displayed in many white-ball tournaments throughout the world – his stats are off the charts and he's really fitted in well with the boys thus far.

"Qais Ahmad, besides Adam Zampa, he's probably the premier leg-spinner T20 player throughout the world. He played particularly well for Kent in the (domestic T20) competition in England, he's done well again with T10 competitions. He's played very well for Hobart Hurricanes in previous seasons. What he's going to bring is excitement, hopefully a few bowling celebrations when he takes a wicket and I think he'll fit in perfectly with the Melbourne Stars."

Biggest threat

"The Sixers because they are going for a three-peat. They're very talented throughout and once they get the Australian players back, they're very difficult to beat. I think they're the team to beat and rightly so, they've got the history on the board. The player to watch would be Chris Lynn. I think he's the one that's going to set the tournament alight for the Heat, he's got something to prove, and I reckon he's going to really shock a few teams by playing his entertaining brand of cricket."

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