By Scott Spits
For Hawthorn in the AFL this year, it was all about what happened in September.
Of course, there are no comparisons between the Hawks' recent premiership record and that of the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League, yet there is a common theme: the BBL outfit will be judged by what it does in its finals campaign – if it makes it.
Kevin Pietersen playing for the Stars in BBL05.Credit: Getty Images
It's season six of the domestic BBL competition and Melbourne's premier franchise can boast of having finished in the top four in every season. Sadly for the Stars, however, the bragging ends there. Only one of those semi-final appearances have resulted in a berth in the final, and that didn't end well as they fell to Sydney Thunder in last season's decider.
So, Victoria is still without a BBL champion team more than five years after Shane Warne dominated the headlines as the Stars' marquee player in the inaugural season.
The record of cross-town rivals Melbourne Renegades isn't much better but, after their impressive first-up win over the Thunder on Thursday night, some pundits think Melbourne's red team is the one to beat.
It has been a largely uneventful off-season for the Stars as they have retained the same squad from the 2015-2016 tournament. Stability appears to be a key plank.
Ageing star Kevin Pietersen is going around again after delivering last year, finishing third among BBL run-scorers. Luke Wright, David Hussey, Glenn Maxwell, Rob Quiney, James Faulkner and Peter Handscomb – pending his availability – are set to feature with the bat.
Their bowling stocks include Adam Zampa, Ben Hilfenhaus, Scott Boland, Michael Beer and Daniel Worrall, Maxwell and Faulkner.
The Stars open their season against the Hobart Hurricanes at Bellerive Oval on Monday night.
Already Sydney's two franchises have played twice in BBL06 while the Renegades began their campaign with a home match (Thursday's night dominant showing against the Thunder).
But the Stars will soon be right back in the spotlight. The first Melbourne derby is only days away – under lights at the MCG on New Year's Day. They will take on the Renegades again six days later at Etihad Stadium.
Who can forget the derby last year when more than 80,000 fans crammed into the MCG. Talk about a watershed moment for Twenty20 cricket.
So, will this finally be the year for the Melbourne Stars?
Perhaps they could seek inspiration from another AFL club – the Western Bulldogs. The Dogs fell so many times at the penultimate hurdle to agonisingly miss out on playing on that last day in September. But their 2016 is remembered very differently.
Now that's some history to draw on.
The squad:
David Hussey (captain), Michael Beer, Scott Boland, James Faulkner, Seb Gotch, Evan Gulbis, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, John Hastings, Ben Hilfenhaus, Glenn Maxwell, Kevin Pietersen, Rob Quiney, Marcus Stoinis, Tom Triffitt, Daniel Worrall, Luke Wright, Adam Zampa
Ins: None
Outs: None