Inside story: The how and why of Melbourne BBL merger

Conversations began around Christmas at Cricket Victoria and ramped up in January.

The decision to merge the Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades was kept secret for months, with only select senior administrators across the details of the bombshell decision.

Not even the most experienced players in the state were notified before the news broke on Tuesday evening.

Cricket Victoria’s CEO Nick Cummins has been resolute on his wish to fully sell the Renegades and eventually sell 49% of the Stars.

Now we can say Renegades franchise is on its last legs while the Stars are officially dead.

Next summer, the Stars will be called the Melbourne (insert nickname). They will play the MCG, wear navy blue, and likely have a ‘Big V’ shirt.

The idea is this will be Cricket Victoria’s team, with all the state’s marketing and star power behind it.

Within a few years, the hope is it will be a state team, topped up by the odd international or non-Victorian star as required.

The nickname of this primary Melbourne team remains unclear. They initially had 220 options on a whiteboard, before whittling it down to 20 and then to eight. Whichever name they choose will need to be approved by Cricket Australia. It's unlikely to be 'Bushrangers'.

The secondary franchise is a blank canvas. Cricket Victoria remains confident it will be sold – likely to an Indian owner – before mid-October. US, Singaporean and Australian business entities have also registered interest.

What is less clear is whether this prospective owner will have time to rename the club and bring their people in before the beginning of BBL 16 in December.

If there’s time, the Renegades will be re-named and re-branded for the upcoming summer. This is the preferred outcome.

If not, they will remain as the Renegades for one more summer before switching to whichever title the new owners want. This is assuming Cricket Australia can confirm a self-determining private ownership model with its states and the Australian Cricketers' Association, which contractually must approve.

Of high importance to Cricket Victoria is finding a buyer which can create a new rivalry between the two teams.

From now the Renegades will be run out of Cricket Australia’s headquarters, rather than Cricket Victoria’s, which gives you an idea of how the state has moved past the franchise.

Max Abbott, who has operational experience in global tournaments and last summer was the Stars GM of cricket, is the interim GM at the Renegades.

Cricket Victoria hopes the new owners keep him in that role full-time, but can’t be sure until they arrive.

The old Renegades GM of cricket James Rosengarten will oversee the main Melbourne franchise.

Who coaches this team remains to be seen. Cameron White (Renegades) and Peter Moores (Stars) both have one year remaining on their contracts.

Cricket Victoria believed it needed to restructure the business in order to sell the secondary franchise. With no certainty, staff were unable to sell merchandise, tickets or membership for the upcoming summer.

It’s predicted the Renegades will be sold for around $100 million, according to industry experts who spoke to SEN on the condition of anonymity.

Then there are the players, many of whom were blindsided on Tuesday night.

While staff were told mid-afternoon, players were not.

Graham Manou spoke to the Victorian contracted cricketers, while Abbott chatted to Stars aligned players and Rosengarten had the Renegades players.

These conversations were taking place deep into the evening.

Overnight the reaction from interstate has been vicious.

Cricket NSW has privately slammed the Cricket Victoria move as chaotic, careless and reckless. They believe Cummins and his team have destroyed both brands and created immense uncertainty, and that Cricket Australia has lost control of the narrative.

The South Australian Cricket Association has a similar perspective. They were taken aback by the news and are concerned by how it could impact private ownership. Some in the SACA are furious.

But Cummins and his leadership team was aware there would be a bumpy few days. They knew this path would not be easy. And more pertinently, they firmly believe this was the only way forward.

Fasten your seatbelts.