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The Melbourne Stars are an Australian men's professional Twenty20 (T20) franchise cricket team that competed in Australia's domestic Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League (BBL). Based in Melbourne, Victoria, the Stars wore a green uniform and played their home matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). They are the only team to have not win a Big Bash League title despite three finals appearances.
On 2 June 2026, it was reported that the brands of the Stars and the Melbourne Renegades would be merged into a new franchise, utilising the Stars' existing BBL license. Nick Cummins, the CEO of Cricket Victoria (CV), has described the new team as "just a merger of brands and staff" and "not a merger of the teams". Two weeks later, it was confirmed that both the Stars and the Renegades would compete in the upcoming 2026–27 season under their existing names.
Contents
Honours
Big Bash:
Champions (0):
Runners Up (3): BBL |05, BBL |08, BBL |09
Minor Premiers (2): BBL |03, BBL |09
Finals Series Appearances (10): BBL |01, BBL |02, BBL |03, BBL |04, BBL |05, BBL |06, BBL |08, BBL |09, BBL |14, BBL |15
Wooden Spoons (2): BBL |07, BBL |12
Mascots
Starman & Starlet are two of the official mascots of the Melbourne Stars. In BBL|05 the Stars introduced a secondary mascot, Steven Seagull, the year after a seagull was struck with a cricket ball hit by Perth Scorchers batsman Adam Voges during a match between Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers in BBL|04 while the Stars were fielding at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Rob Quiney, who was the first to the scene, immediately signalled that he feared the worst for the stricken bird as it lay motionless on the ground, before he delicately carried it over the boundary rope and placed it back on the turf. But just minutes later, the bird came back to life and started the walk along the boundary line, much to the delight of the huge MCG crowd.
Rivalries
When the league began in 2011, Cricket Australia decided they would place two teams in Melbourne. With the core group of players for both teams coming from the Victoria cricket team, this rivalry automatically became widely anticipated in Melbourne. The derby between the new two teams, the Stars and the Melbourne Renegades, quickly became hugely popular with big crowds flocking in to the derby matches at both the MCG and Docklands Stadium. In BBL05, during the first leg of the two derbies at the MCG, it drew a record crowd of 80,883 which is the highest crowd for any domestic cricket match ever in the history of the sport.
Captains
There have been 11 captains in the Stars' history, including matches featuring an acting captain.
Squad
The squad of the Melbourne Stars for the 2025–26 Big Bash League season as of 7 November 2025.
Players with international caps are listed in bold.
Players
Australian representatives
The following is a list of cricketers who have played for the Stars after making their debut in the national men's team (the period they spent as both a Stars squad member and an Australian-capped player is in brackets):
Overseas marquees
Source:
Statistics and Awards
Team Stats
Win–loss record:
Highest score in an innings: 2/273 (20 overs) vs Hobart Hurricanes, 19 January 2022
Highest successful chase: 3/211 (19 overs) vs Adelaide Strikers, 21 November 2021
Lowest successful defence: 8/134 (20 overs) vs Brisbane Heat, 31 December 2023
Largest victory:
Batting first: 112 runs vs Melbourne Renegades, 3 January 2015
Batting second: 75 balls remaining vs Adelaide Strikers, 9 January 2014
Longest winning streak: 8 matches (20 December 2013 – 27 January 2014 & 30 December 2019 – 18 January 2020)
Longest losing streak: 8 matches (17 January 2017 – 9 January 2018 & 6 January – 28 December 2024)
Source:
Individual Stats
Most runs: Glenn Maxwell – 3,117
Highest score in an innings: Glenn Maxwell – 154 (64) vs Hobart Hurricanes, 19 January 2022
Highest partnership: Hilton Cartwright and Marcus Stoinis – 207 vs Sydney Sixers, 12 January 2020
Most wickets: Adam Zampa – 98
Best bowling figures in an innings: Lasith Malinga – 6/7 (4 overs) vs Perth Scorchers, 12 December 2012
Hat-tricks taken:
Haris Rauf vs Sydney Thunder, 8 January 2020
Most catches (fielder): Glenn Maxwell – 85
Most dismissals (wicket-keeper): Peter Handscomb – 42 (31 catches, 11 stumpings)
Source:
Individual Awards
Player of the Match:
Glenn Maxwell – 17
Marcus Stoinis – 11
Luke Wright – 5
Kevin Pietersen – 4
Joe Clarke, Nick Larkin, and Adam Zampa – 3
Michael Beer, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Peter Handscomb, Liam Hatcher, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hodge, Clint McKay, Rob Quiney, and Haris Rauf – 2
Hilton Cartwright, Jackson Coleman, Ben Duckett, Ben Dunk, Andre Fletcher, John Hastings, David Hussey, Lasith Malinga, Andre Russell, Cameron White, and Daniel Worrall – 1
BBL Player of the Tournament:
David Hussey – BBL|01
Marcus Stoinis – BBL|09
Glenn Maxwell – BBL|14
BBL Team of the Tournament:
Glenn Maxwell (5) – BBL|07, BBL|08, BBL|09, BBL|10, BBL|14
Marcus Stoinis (4) – BBL|08, BBL|09, BBL|10, BBL|14
Luke Wright – BBL|05
Haris Rauf – BBL|09
Adam Zampa – BBL|10
Joe Clarke – BBL|11