2020–21 Melbourne Renegades WBBL season

Each 2020–21 squad was made up of 15 active players. Teams could sign up to five 'marquee players', with a maximum of three of those from overseas. Marquees are classed as any overseas player, or a local player who holds a Cricket Australia national contract at the start of the WBBL|06 signing period.[2]

Personnel changes made ahead of the season included:

• Erin Fazackerley signed with the Renegades, departing the Hobart Hurricanes.[3]
• South African marquee player Lizelle Lee signed with the Renegades, departing the Melbourne Stars.[4]
• New Zealand marquee player Amy Satterthwaite returned to the Renegades after a season's absence, having missed WBBL|05 while pregnant with her first child. Satterthwaite also resumed her role as captain, after Jess Duffin stepped into the position for a season.[3]
• As part of Cricket Victoria's cost-cutting organisational restructure, the Renegades did not renew the contract of head coach Tim Coyle despite achieving two consecutive finals appearances. Lachlan Stevens, who coached the Renegades in their first two seasons, was announced as Coyle's replacement.[5][6]
• On 25 September, the Renegades confirmed Jess Duffin would miss the WBBL|06 season following the birth of her first child in June. Explaining the decision, Duffin said: "The WBBL is such a high-quality competition with a lot of games in quick succession and unfortunately my body is just not ready for that at this point."[7]

Changes made during the season included:

• New Zealand marquee Rosemary Mair was signed from the reserve player pool. She played five games for the Renegades from 3–14 November, replacing Lea Tahuhu (side strain).[8][9][10][11][12][13]
• On 6 November, the Renegades announced Maitlan Brown would miss the remaining nine games of the season due to a hamstring injury.[14][15]
• On 10 November, the Renegades announced Georgia Wareham would miss the remaining seven games of the season due to a "bone stress reaction" in her shin.[16]
• Amy Yates was signed from the reserve player pool, replacing Georgia Wareham for six matches from 14 to 22 November.[13][17][18][19][20][21][22]
• Rebecca Carter was signed from the reserve player pool, replacing Maitlan Brown for one game on 22 November.[17][23]

The table below lists the Renegades players and their key stats (including runs scored, batting strike rate, wickets taken, economy rate, catches and stumpings) for the season.[3][24][25]

No.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth	Batting style	Bowling style	G	R	SR	W	E	C	S	Notes
Batters
16	Rebecca Carter		16 July 1996	Left-handed	Right-arm medium	1	2	25.00	–	–	0	–	Replacement player
27	Jess Duffin		27 June 1989	Right-handed	Right-arm leg spin	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	Unavailable for the season
33	Erin Fazackerley		3 July 1998	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	6	5	27.77	–	–	1	–
17	Amy Satterthwaite		7 October 1986	Left-handed	Right-arm off spin	13	204	78.16	1	11.00	5	–	Captain, overseas marquee
11	Courtney Webb		30 November 1999	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	13	246	112.32	1	8.33	2	–
All-rounders
25	Makinley Blows		12 December 1997	Left-handed	Right-arm medium	10	12	63.15	4	8.00	0	–
23	Sophie Molineux		17 January 1998	Left-handed	Left-arm orthodox	12	221	93.24	11	7.00	3	–	Australian marquee
32	Georgia Wareham		26 May 1999	Right-handed	Right-arm leg spin	6	139	146.31	3	7.60	2	–	Australian marquee
88	Amy Yates		30 September 1998	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	6	21	95.45	–	–	0	–	Replacement player
Wicket-keepers
3	Josie Dooley		21 January 2000	Right-handed	–	12	138	95.83	–	–	4	5
67	Lizelle Lee		2 April 1992	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	13	261	121.96	–	–	0	0	Overseas marquee
Bowlers
77	Maitlan Brown		5 June 1997	Right-handed	Right-arm medium fast	4	8	57.14	0	4.90	1	–
12	Ella Hayward		8 September 2003	Right-handed	Right-arm off spin	8	12	70.58	5	7.29	0	–
74	Carly Leeson		9 November 1998	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	13	78	114.70	11	7.00	5	–
7	Rosemary Mair		7 November 1998	Right-handed	Right-arm medium fast	5	5	33.33	5	6.50	0	–	Overseas marquee (replacement)
8	Courtney Neale		4 July 1998	Right-handed	Right-arm medium fast	3	–	–	1	10.66	0	–
5	Molly Strano		5 October 1992	Right-handed	Right-arm off spin	13	24	77.41	8	7.30	6	–
6	Lea Tahuhu		23 September 1990	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	5	9	100.00	4	6.82	1	–	Overseas marquee

•   The top 4 teams advance to the knockout phase

All times are local time

In front of a sold out reduced-capacity home crowd,[31] the Sydney Sixers put on a 104-run opening partnership which came to an end during the 13th over when Alyssa Healy was stumped by Josie Dooley off the bowling of Molly Strano for 63. Two balls later, Ellyse Perry was dismissed for 37 by a spectacular diving catch from Courtney Webb, lauded as a contender for the best of the season.[32][33] Marizanne Kapp (22 not out from 17 balls) and Erin Burns (19 off 11) helped the Sixers finish their innings with a total of 4/166.

On the first ball of the run chase, Lizelle Lee was dropped at backward point off the bowling of Perry. At just 3/70 in the 11th over, Webb joined Lee in the middle for the Melbourne Renegades to form a rapid 73-run stand from 33 deliveries. Sixers veteran Sarah Aley eventually broke through in the 16th over, removing Lee for 79 via a Burns catch in the outfield. Requiring 24 runs from the remaining 26 balls, Webb (46 not out off 28) saw the Renegades across the line with six wickets in hand inside the last over, mirroring her finishing heroics of a similarly tight encounter between the two teams in WBBL|05.[34] The loss dramatically decreased the Sixers' chances of qualifying for finals heading into the final day of the regular season.[35]

The match was also shrouded in controversy, and the outcome potentially affected, due to an "administration error" self-reported by the Sixers before the commencement of the second innings. Hayley Silver-Holmes, who had missed several previous games due to injury, was named in the team line-up despite not having yet been granted approval by the W/BBL Technical Committee to be added back into the official squad. Upon discovering the mistake, the Sixers ensured Silver-Holmes took no active part in the game and Maddy Darke replaced her as a substitute fielder, leaving them a bowler short in what was essentially a must-win game. Cricket Australia (CA) fined the Sixers $25,000 ($15,000 suspended for twelve months) with CA's Head of Integrity and Security stating that the breach, "while serious in nature," had a "reduced impact due to the Club's actions" during the game.[36][37][38]

• Most runs: Lizelle Lee – 261 (13th in the league)[40]
• Highest score in an innings: Lizelle Lee – 79 (45) vs Sydney Sixers, 21 November[41]
• Most wickets: Carly Leeson, Sophie Molineux – 11 each (equal 17th in the league)[42]
• Best bowling figures in an innings: Ella Hayward – 4/16 (4 overs) vs Melbourne Stars, 15 November[43]
• Most catches: Molly Strano – 6 (equal 11th in the league)[44]
• Player of the Match awards:
  • Lizelle Lee, Carly Leeson, Courtney Webb – 1 each
• WBBL|06 Young Gun: Courtney Webb (week 4 nominee)[45]
• Renegades Most Valuable Player: Courtney Webb[46]