Renegades sign Sri Lanka allrounder

Melbourne Renegades have signed Sri Lanka T20 gun-for-hire Thisara Perera to replace injured West Indian Dwayne Bravo, while paceman James Pattinson is poised to make his return from injury in Saturday night’s KC Big Bash Melbourne derby.

Perera, who last month finished a stint in the Bangladeshi Premier League, fills the hole left by allrounder Bravo, who underwent surgery on a severe hamstring tear suffered in the Renegades’ loss to the Scorchers at Etihad Stadium on 29 December.

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The 26-year-old allrounder, who played for the Brisbane Heat in BBL|02, was part of the Sri Lanka limited-overs squad that played Australia in August, where he was fined by the ICC after unleashing an enthusiastic spray at Australia vice-captain David Warner when the opener edged behind in the second one-dayer in Colombo.

Meanwhile, Pattinson is in line to make his first appearance of BBL|06 after recovering from a hamstring injury, named alongside Perera in the Renegades’ 13-man squad to face the Melbourne Stars at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

Pattinson has not played top-level cricket since a Test against New Zealand last February.

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On Thursday, Renegades coach Andrew McDonald said another Test paceman, Peter Siddle – who is also on the comeback trail from injury after suffering a flare-up in his back earlier in the summer – was a chance to also don the red shirt before the tournament is over.

"He's getting back into some work – he's probably a little bit further away than James with where he's at," McDonald said. "It'll be a week-by-week thing with 'Sidds' but we hope he may be able to take some part in the back-end of the tournament which will be a massive inclusion come that time if we are at the business end."

The Stars have made one change after losing their past two games, with Rob Quiney returning from injury to replace Seb Gotch.

Quiney began the tournament brightly with a man-of-the-match 75 at the top of the order against the Hurricanes in Hobart.

The Melbourne Derby is a double-header with the Rebel Women’s Big Bash League, with the Renegades making one change to their squad which claimed a second consecutive win over the Perth Scorchers on Wednesday, with Nicole Goodwin returning in place of Tayla Vlaeminck.

Renegades BBL squad: Aaron Finch (c), Cameron White, Peter Nevill, Callum Ferguson, Tom Cooper, Sunil Narine, Trent Lawford, Marcus Harris, Chris Tremain, Brad Hogg, Thisara Perera, Matt Short, James Pattinson

Stars BBL squad: David Hussey (c), Michael Beer, Scott Boland, James Faulkner, Evan Gulbis, Sam Harper, Ben Hilfenhaus, Glenn Maxwell, Kevin Pietersen, Rob Quiney, Marcus Stoinis, Luke Wright, Adam Zampa

Renegades WBBL squad: Rachel Priest (c), Kris Britt, Grace Harris, Danni Wyatt, Lea Tahuhu, Molly Strano, Nicole Goodwin, Sophie Molineux, Maitlan Brown, Natalie Plane, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Amy Yates

Stars WBBL squad: Meg Lanning (c), Lily Bardsley, Kristen Beams, Jess Cameron, Emma Inglis, Hayley Jensen, Emma Kearney, Alana King, Anna Lanning, Katie Mack. Morna Nielsen, Nat Sciver. Gemma Triscari