Melbourne Renegades Rope In Martin Guptill As Liam Livingstone's Replacement For BBL 12

Veteran New Zealand National Cricket Team opening batsman Martin Guptill has joined Melbourne Renegades as a replacement for Liam Livingstone for the Big Bash League (BBL) 2022-23.

Cricket Australia (CA) has already announced the complete schedule for the Big Bash League (BBL) 2022-23, which will be the 12th edition of Australia’s T20 competition. The tournament is set to commence on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, with Sydney Thunder taking on the Melbourne Stars at the Manuka Oval, and the final of the T20 league will take place on February 4, 2022.

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In the Big Bash League (BBL) 2022-23, a total of 56 games will be played in the league stage and the games will be played across 17 venues.

Meanwhile, the Kiwi top-order batter has signed with the Melbourne Renegades just days after being released from his New Zealand contract.

He will feature in the final 10 games of the season for Renegades as the West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell will take Livingstone’s spot for the first four games.

Notably, the England all-rounder Livingstone has pulled out of the BBL 12 due to his increased international commitment as he has been picked in England’s Test squad.

I’m excited to be joining the Renegades – Martin Guptill

The 36-year-old opener Martin Guptill expressed his excitement over joining Melbourne Renegades and said that he is looking forward to the new challenge.

“I’m excited to be joining the Renegades and am looking forward to being part of the Big Bash this season. This is a new challenge for me, and it will be nice to call Melbourne home for the summer. I’ll be trying to make as many runs as I can to help drive the Renegades back up the ladder and push for team success. I’ve crossed paths with a few of the guys over the years on the international circuit and know this will be a great team environment to be part of. I can’t wait to join up with the team after Christmas and play in front of plenty of Renegades fans at Marvel Stadium [Docklands] and in Geelong,” Guptill said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Melbourne Renegades General Manager James Rosengarten has said that he is delighted to have a player of Martin Guptill’s caliber in the squad.

“We’re delighted to have a player of Martin’s calibre joining the Renegades and we’re excited that he has chosen to play for our club. Martin’s record over a long period of time in the shortest form of the game for New Zealand and in domestic competitions around the world speaks for itself. We know Martin will add a wealth of experience and knowledge to our playing group and look forward to seeing what he can produce in red,” Renegades General Manager James Rosengarten said.

“Signing Martin and Andre over the past month has been a great outcome for our club. With Andre playing the first four matches and Martin joining us from there, we now have a world-class player available for the duration of the tournament which will help give us every chance of success in BBL 12,” he added.

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