Melbourne Renegades appoint Gavan Twining as head coach ahead of WBBL 12

Melbourne Renegades have roped in Gavan Twining, the assistant coach of the Australia women's team, as their new head coach ahead of the next Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) season.

Twining's next assignment is Australia's home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand in October. Australia will take on Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series starting October 9 at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane. The second and third games will be held on October 11 and 14 at the same venue.

The Sophie Molineux-led team will then take on the White Ferns in a three-match T20I series at the North Sydney Oval. The series will get underway on October 18 and the second and third fixtures will be played on October 20 and 22, respectively.

Twining will join Renegades before the WBBL kicks off on October 29. The curtain raiser will be played between Renegades and Sydney Thunder at Junction Oval in Melbourne. It will be a double-header day as Melbourne Stars will also face Hobart Hurricanes at the same venue later in the evening. Twining is replacing Simon Helmot, who parted ways with the team in search of other coaching gigs in the franchise circuit.

"Gavan is an outstanding addition to our WBBL programme, bringing World Cup-winning experience to our group," Renegades general manager Max Abbott said in a press release. "There's already a very positive environment within the squad and we felt Gavan was the best person to continue building on that working with the experienced leaders we have in the squad."

Twining expressed his excitement about working with a talented and reinvigorated group: "The Renegades have a strong foundation and a talented squad, and I'm looking forward to helping the players take the next step and build on the success the club has had. "Having been part of the Australian team's World Cup campaign, I'm excited to bring those experiences into the Renegades environment and help produce performances that our members and fans can be proud of."