Amid all the hype, there is serious motivation for Melbourne Stars wicketkeeper Matthew Wade ahead of Friday night’s Big Bash League opener against the Renegades.
Selection for cricket’s Twenty20 World Cup squad is looming, plus a first-up win will give the Stars momentum as they try to atone for losing semi-finals in the opening two BBL seasons.
But above all, Wade is sick of losing to his Victorian team-mates.
His team went down in their two local derbies last season, including the infamous on-field clash between the Stars’ Shane Warne and Renegades import Marlon Samuels.
While Warne and Samuels are not playing this season, there is still plenty of feeling between the two Melbourne teams.
“You don’t want to be in our (Victorian) rooms on the losing end, even if it’s laser skirmish or lawn bowls – whoever gets the win is dishing out shit for a week,” Wade said.
“We 100 per cent want to win this one, for sure.
“A lot of us are close mates, obviously we play together for Victoria.
“But the rivalry in terms of when we go out to play against each other is 100 per cent real.”
Wade’s omission from the Test team earlier this year means he will be available for the Stars throughout this summer’s BBL.
The domestic Twenty20 competition is also a welcome distraction from captaining Victoria, who are struggling in the Sheffield Shield.
“To get dropped from the Australian team wasn’t the ideal scenario, but to come back and get straight back into one-day cricket and four-day cricket for Victoria has switched my attention,” he said.
“I have a flow-on of how I want to play and got back into it, which is good.
“This competition for me – to be honest, I just want to have fun and enjoy it as much as I can.”
Wade also made a point of saying there would be plenty of pressure on Renegades batsman Aaron Finch, who punished the Stars last summer.
Finch, in turn, happily talked up the Stars as Melbourne’s glamour team of the BBL.
“We know they’re a class side and with the players they have, they probably should have won two Big Bashes by now,” Finch said.
“They’ll be under a lot of pressure, they’ll be feeling it definitely right through their squad.
“We just go about our business, we fly under the radar.
“They do all the cool things – we don’t.”