Melbourne Stars who have parted ways with Englishman Jonathan Batty have now appointed Victorian head coach Andrew Christie as the club’s new women’s head coach for the next two seasons of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).
Crosstown rivals Melbourne Renegades was Christie’s home for the past four years as he was the assistant coach of the side.
Stars who finished last on the points table with just two wins from their 10 games have parted ways with Jonathan Batty at the end of the last season. In Batty’s three years in charge, Stars failed to reach the finals even once.
The Stars have qualified for the playoffs of the BBL only once in their 10-year history which was the BBL|06 edition. Christie, who has been the coach of Victoria in the Women’s National Cricket League will now have the job to take this side back to playoffs action.
“I’d like to thank the Melbourne Stars for their faith in me, and I truly believe we have the group that can return this club back to the WBBL finals,” said Christie.
“It’s a big challenge ahead of us with plenty of hard work to be undertaken but I look forward to working with Clint McKay, our T20 high performance manager, and the other coaches to ensure we get the best out of this group.”
Christie’s initial task may be to secure Kim Garth’s recommitment to the club, as they have lost Tess Flintoff and Hasrat Gill to the Renegades and Thunder respectively.
The Stars hold pick three in the upcoming WBBL|11 overseas player draft, with South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp being a direct signing until the end of WBBL|12.
Christie who was the previous premiership winning coach of the Dandenong in Women’s Premier Cricket and to lead the female emerging player program, has experienced rapid growth after joining Cricket Vitoria in 2021.
Club General manager Max Abbott said, “Andy has a track record of success at every level he has coached and brings great relationships with the playing group, so we’re excited to see what he can achieve with the Stars.”
“We believe we’ve got a squad that has the talent to contend for the title and Andy’s year-round connection to a lot of the players will be key for us to hit the ground running and improve our results in WBBL|11.”
(Quotes sourced from cricket.com.au)
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