Cameron White, part of Melbourne Renegades first title in BBL|08, has replaced David Saker as the club’s men’s head coach
Rising mentor Cameron White has been tasked with leading Melbourne Renegades’ resurgence after being appointed the club’s new men’s head coach on a three-year deal.
White, who won the KFC BBL|08 title with the Renegades as a player, replaces David Saker who the club parted ways with last month following a second poor season in his three years at the helm.
The former Victorian and Renegades captain’s coaching pedigree has risen quickly since his retirement in 2020 and he takes on his first head coach role having spent the past two seasons working with mastermind Greg Shipperd at NSW and Sydney Sixers.
With a reputation as a hard-nosed player and captain throughout a decorated 20-year playing career, White has won plaudits among emerging and experienced players alike for his mentoring approach, being able to deliver tailored, one-on-one feedback to players.
Having begun his Big Bash coaching journey at Adelaide Strikers as an assistant where he was credited with helping unlock Matt Short’s full potential, the 40-year-old was poached by the Sixers ahead of BBL|12.
“Once I saw that he was doing some work for the Strikers, I said to ‘Shippy’ (Shipperd, Sixers head coach), ‘We need to get this guy’,” Sixers captain Henriques told cricket.com.au last year.
“At the Sixers, all of our guys love him. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like working with him.”
While the Renegades is his first head coach appointment, White boasts one of the finest winning records as a captain in Australian domestic cricket history and holds a reputation as one of the country’s sharpest tactical minds.
He represented Victoria 286 times across all three formats, winning six Sheffield Shield, a One-Day Cup and two state Twenty20 Big Bash titles, as well as the BBL|08 triumph with the Renegades.
White inherits a Renegades group with enormous potential but has struggled to string consistent performances together.
They looked to have turned a corner when they returned to the finals under Saker in BBL|12 for the first time since their maiden title in 2018-19, before they went backwards last season.
But with breakout Indian Premier League star Jake Fraser-McGurk likely to partner new recruit Josh Brown at the top this summer under an emerging leader in Will Sutherland, who stepped in after Nic Maddinson was dropped last season, optimism is high for BBL|14.
The club also boasts an extremely experienced bowling attack in Australian spinners Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon alongside veteran quick Kane Richardson and Tom Rogers.
“There’s some great players on this list,” White said following his appointment. “There’s some exciting young talent coupled with some good experience.
“I’ve got so many great memories here, as a player and achieving success, so to be back in Renegades colours several years later is a thrill.
“The idea of working with this playing group, some really exciting players, both young and experienced, is a really exciting.
“We’ve got pretty good depth in our list (and) we’ve got some exciting young batters coming through.
“That’s exactly what we’re looking at this season, there’s opportunity for a number of players to put a stamp on the season and the competition, so hopefully, as a coaching group, we can facilitate that, and we can see some good performances.”
White, who racked up more than 3200 runs for Australia in 142 appearances across all three formats, will be supported by BBL|13 championship-winning coach Wade Seccombe, who was recently appointed the club’s T20 high performance manager after resigning from his Queensland and Brisbane Heat roles in March.
White said he was looking forward to using Cricket Victoria’s renewed focus on the T20 format as part of his Renegades journey.
“Most coaching roles are built around communication and relationships,” he said.
“One of the good things about this role with me is I know most of the playing list reasonably well. I’ve either played with or coached a lot of them previously, both here at Cricket Victoria and other teams around the country or the world.
“I’m looking forward to reigniting Kane Richardson; I played in that premiership with him in BBL|08 and he’s an important player, has played a lot with Australia.
“Adam Zampa is (also) doing a great job with Australia over in the World Cup at the moment.
“I’m just really looking forward to ripping in and starting my journey as coach.”
Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said White stood out from a field of applicants across the globe for “his vision for the club and this playing group”.
“His knowledge of the game, particularly T20 cricket, is also undisputed. We’re excited about what Cam will bring,” Rosengarten said.
The Renegades yesterday secured the second pick in the BBL|14 overseas player draft.
Melbourne Renegades BBL|14 squad (so far): Josh Brown, Harry Dixon, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Nathan Lyon, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Will Sutherland, Adam Zampa