White’s swap to Stars and Ronchi’s appointment as his replacement at Renegades is the latest chapter in a bizarre few months for the two Melbourne clubs. Stars are now the only team operated by Cricket Victoria (CV) with the board and chief executive Nick Cummins moving former Renegades general manager James Rosengarten and former Renegades head of cricket Wade Seccombe over to the equivalent roles with Stars. CV have poached White as Stars’ BBL coach from Renegades with Moores moving into a director of coaching role despite a year to run on a three-year deal to coach Stars.

It left Renegades as a club without an administration and only two employees, with former Stars general manager Max Abbott and McKay charged with rebuilding the club from scratch for the upcoming season, with a sole reporting line into CA digital, marketing and communications executive Alex Lavelle and budgets jointly provided by CA and CV who still technically lease the license from CA until it is eventually sold.

Ronchi is understood to have been preferred in a tight race in order to bring some fresh ideas and energy to a group that is set to feel like outsiders this season.

“Luke stood out with his clear vision for how he wants our team to play and his ability to build strong relationships,” McKay said. “He empowers players to back their skills and take ownership of their performances, which we see as a great trait for this group at the Renegades this season.”

New Zealand captain Tom Latham spoke of Ronchi’s influence as a coach.

“He’s someone who understands the environment and culture of this group and is a huge driver of that,” Latham said.

“I think you could talk to most guys, and they’d agree everyone’s game has gone from strength to strength under his guidance and he’s always been someone who’s worked incredibly hard for the team and that effort shows out in the middle.

“We’ll miss him, but we obviously wish him all the best for what he’s got coming up.”

Ronchi played in the inaugural season of the BBL for Perth Scorchers after a distinguished career with Western Australia which included four ODIs and three T20Is for Australia. He then moved back to the country of his birth to represent New Zealand across all three forms, including four Tests, 81 ODIs and 29 T20Is. He also had vast franchise playing experience around the world including in the IPL, PSL, CPL, Blast, Super Smash, BPL and Afghanistan Premier League.

Following his retirement as a player he joined New Zealand as a batting coach in 2020 under Gary Stead and was part of the coaching group that won the World Test Championship and made the T20 World Cup final in 2021 before taking his first franchise role with Islamabad in 2026 and leading them to the eliminator where they lost a final-over thriller to Hyderabad Kingsmen.

Ronchi will have a challenge in uniting a Renegades group that has been disenfranchised by the chaos caused by the privatisation process. The players have had several meetings with the ACA around their contractual situation and obligations given Renegades are now under a new administration but they are still contracted to play for the team in the BBL as it stands.

“The players have been through a difficult period in recent times with a lot of change so my focus will be on creating an enjoyable environment where our players can perform at their best, play an exciting brand of cricket and challenge for the title this season,” Ronchi said.

The team is also set to have three different home venues with Renegades to host the opening game of the season Chennai before playing at the MCG and the Junction Oval. That will have an impact on building a list given most teams tailor their recruits to playing a minimum of four games at one venue.

White, meanwhile, finds himself in an arguably more challenging position than Ronchi as he moves into the role with his former cross-town rivals having also previously left Stars as a player and won a title with Renegades. He joins Stars after two seasons at Renegades where his side finished sixth and seventh respectively.

He has lead San Francisco Unicorns to the playoffs of Major League Cricket in his first season in charge of the American franchise which is also run by CV. In an another unusual twist he will lead a coaching group that will be overseen by Moores who was head coach for the past two seasons. But Stars are understood to be well-placed with their salary cap position to recruit some big overseas names to join their established stars in skipper Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell.

“This is a really exciting uplift for the Melbourne Stars, where we’re able to have multiple high calibre coaches working in our BBL program,” Rosengarten said. “We are investing heavily into the club and this coaching department is of the highest quality.

“Cam has gained a wide range of experience as a player and coach, and is an outstanding tactical coach with a huge work rate. He will work alongside Peter Moores, who will play a pivotal role this season.

“Peter’s return shows just how committed he is to achieving success with the Stars and this new role is designed to add an extra layer of expertise for our players and coaching department.”

Stars and Renegades are also both looking for new WBBL coaches with Simon Helmot departing Renegades to coach Gulf Giants in the ILT20 while Stars incumbent Andy Christie will step back into an assistant role on top of his role as Victoria’s women’s coach.

Stars are currently advertising for their head WBBL coach while Abbott and McKay are set to run a similar process with Renegades women’s captain Sophie Molinuex, having waited until the Australia T20 World Cup winning skipper had completed her World Cup campaign.

Australia women’s fielding coach Gavan Twining and former Renegades’ men’s BBL coach and current Gujarat Giants WPL coach Michael Klinger are a couple of the names that have been linked to the role.