Preview: Five imports boost Gades after horror BBL|09

BBL|09 result: Last

Squad: Aaron Finch (c), Noor Ahmad (OS), Cameron Boyce, Zak Evans, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Jon Holland, Josh Lalor, Shaun Marsh, Mohammad Nabi (OS), James Pattinson, Mitch Perry, Jack Prestwidge, Kane Richardson, Rilee Roussow (OS), Will Sutherland, Imran Tahir (OS), Imad Wasim (OS), Beau Webster

Ins: Noor Ahmad, Josh Lalor (Brisbane Heat), James Pattinson (Heat), Mitch Perry, Jack Prestwidge, Rilee Roussow, Imran Tahir, Imad Wasim.

Outs: Jack Wildermuth (Heat), Tom Cooper (Heat), Dan Christian (Sydney Sixers), Harry Gurney, Richard Gleeson, Joe Mennie, Samit Patel, Andrew Fekete, Tom Andrews, Brayden Stepien, Nathan McSweeney

Possible Best XI: Aaron Finch, Sam Harper (wk), Shaun Marsh, Rilee Rossouw (OS), Beau Webster, Mohammad Nabi (OS), Will Sutherland, James Pattinson, Cameron Boyce, Kane Richardson, Imran Tahir (OS)

Possible Best XI for first game: Aaron Finch, Sam Harper (wk), Shaun Marsh, Rilee Rossouw (OS), Beau Webster, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Jack Prestwidge, Josh Lalor, Cameron Boyce, Kane Richardson, Jon Holland

Michael Klinger might be the only person for whom 2020 has been a considerably less chaotic year.

His first BBL coaching gig with the Melbourne Renegades got off to a rough start and it went largely downhill from there.

The reigning BBL champions' plans were thrown into disarray when their two Pakistani recruits, Faheem Ashraf and Usman Shinwari, pulled out only days before the start of the tournament and the club subsequently went from princes to paupers, earning the wooden spoon and winning just three games in their title defence.

"Everything last year was going a hundred miles an hour," Klinger told cricket.com.au. "The timing of it (those two players pulling out) when I came into the role, only a couple of weeks before the season, it was pretty frantic to be honest."

A year on, Klinger has his feet under the table and while the pandemic has made the off-season challenging, he's had a whole winter to plan for contingencies.

The club has secured the services of five quality overseas players, led by the recruitment of South Africans Rilee Rossouw and Imran Tahir as well as wily Pakistan spinner Imad Wasim.

Star allrounder Mohammad Nabi will also return, though both he and fellow Afghan Noor Ahmad had their arrivals into Australia complicated by South Australia's recent COVID-19 scare, meaning they will now miss the Renegades' first two games.

James Pattinson is the highest profile local recruit and could come in handy at the back end of the tournament having sharpened his T20 skills by helping the Mumbai Indians to the recent Indian Premier League crown.

Allrounders Dan Christian, Tom Cooper and Jack Wildermuth have all departed.

Also high on Klinger's agenda is managing the off-field happiness of players as they continue to be subject to strict bio-security protocols.

Captain Aaron Finch is available for the whole tournament, but Klinger is particularly mindful of ensuring he gets a chance to refresh during the summer, having been away from home since July.

Klinger has tapped into the brains of Australian Football League staff Simon Goodwin (coach of the Melbourne Demons) and Matthew Inness (the former Victoria and WA bowler who is now the Western Bulldogs' physical performance manager) for tips on how to best manage players in hubs.

He has gleaned a few nuggets, and Klinger reckons it could help the Renegades get an edge over the opposition this season.

"I don't want to go into (details) too much because that's where I reckon I could potentially have an advantage over some other coaches and teams," said Klinger. "But the details they gave were very good.

"It's pretty much based around a philosophy I had anyway about when you're on, you're on and when you're off, you're off. So when you're training and playing, you’re doing that at high intensity. But when you have a day off it's a proper day off where you can switch off."

The inside word with coach Michael Klinger

The off-season

"Compared to last year, this year I've had plenty of time to organise things. There have been plenty of challenges trying to arrange overseas players with COVID and quarantine times, but at least I've had the time up my sleeve to construct the list that we wanted. There wasn't one thing I pinpoint and blame for last year. As a batting group we could have had more guys step up and be man of the match and get us over the line … We probably need some more match winning performances from our top six. Bowling, it's just about finding the balance to get 20 quality overs. This year I feel like we have the squad to do it."

The imports

"We're hoping to have three of them available as much as possible. It's going to be a combination of trying to fit in your best three of them at any stage with a combination of availability and sometimes tactical (factors) as well. We're really excited to have those (five) players with us."

Players to watch

"I know (former Renegades coach) Andrew McDonald kept tabs on Noor Ahmad in the past and he passed that (tip) onto me. We were keen to get a wrist-spinner who could spin the ball both ways at pace. Imran Tahir wasn't available to come for the full tournament so I just felt he combination of Noor and Tahir in terms of having one available at our disposal for the full tournament (would be beneficial). Also, I watched how well the Melbourne Stars had gone in previous years with Sandeep (Lamichhane) in combination with Adam Zampa. Obviously you need one of those spinners to be able to bowl a Power Play over generally. Both Imran and Noor can do that. it's going to be a huge advantage having two wrist-spinners to go with someone like a Cameron Boyce.”

Your thoughts on the new rules?

"It's hard one to comment on only because we haven't seen them in any games yet. In terms of judging them I'd probably like to see how it goes in this tournament. There are a few practice games where we're going to trial things from a strategy side of things. It will give broadcasters more content to speak about – when are teams are going to take the Power (Surge)? Are they going to go for the bonus point (Bash Boost)? What are the tactics around the replacement player (X-factor)? What are their options? It gives them a lot more to talk about on TV, so I see why Cricket Australia has gone in that direction. Whether it makes it more complicated or more exciting, I'll probably reserve judgement until the end of the tournament."

The biggest threat

"I'd probably say the Stars. They weren't able to get over the line last year but I think they're strong all over the board, their batting is really strong. Like we'll have Kane Richardson and Aaron Finch available all tournament, they're going to have Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa available for the whole competition. That's going to be extremely beneficial for them. They'll have a strong spin presence with Zahir Khan and Zampa as well, a bit like us. I certainly believe they'll finish high up the table and give themselves a chance."