Stars and Renegades complete Zampa-Harper BBL trade

Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades have completed the long-touted BBL trade that will see Australia legspinner Adam Zampa and Victoria wicketkeeper Sam Harper swap clubs for the upcoming season.

News had broken back in February that Zampa had requested a trade from Stars to cross-town rivals Renegades, despite being the stand-in captain at Stars last season in the absence of injured skipper Glenn Maxwell.

Renegades were prepared to trade Harper, who has been their wicketkeeper since their title-winning season in 2018-19. He had been an inconsistent contributor with the bat having been shuffled around various positions in Renegades' top-order but he was coming off one his better BBL seasons last year making three half-centuries in 12 innings, striking at 141.17.

The trade couldn't be completed until after the BBL's contract embargo ended in June. Zampa's move is even more interesting given the furore created by his failed attempted non-striker run out of Renegades quick Tom Rogers during last season's Melbourne derby.

"Making a cross-town move is always going to raise some interest, it was a difficult decision, but I felt like it was the right time of my career to make a move," Zampa said. "One of the things that really attracted me to the Renegades was the fact that two of my best friends play for them in Kane Richardson and Nic Maddinson, it's not often that you get to my age and you get that opportunity to play with your two best mates.

"The Renegades were a pretty natural fit for me, as well as having close friends in the squad and I really enjoy my time in Melbourne over summer and love playing at Marvel Stadium.

"The way that they've been building up the list has been pretty exciting, there's a really good blend of experience with some talented young players - hopefully I can play a part in their growth too.\

"I'm sure the move will add a little bit more spice to the Melbourne Derby, we had two pretty good games last year and I'm sure it'll be the same again with a bit of player movement."

Stars were pleased to gain Harper despite losing one of the world's best T20 legspinners, having struggled to find a local wicketkeeper-batter since Seb Gotch suffered a career-ending finger injury.

"We're thrilled to be able to secure the services of Sam, who is an outstanding person and we're looking forward to seeing him behind the stumps in BBL13," general manager Blair Crouch said.

"Last year Sam also showed he is more than capable with the bat and was the Renegades second highest run scorer behind Aaron Finch.

"This trade has allowed the club to sign a number of quality players, as we saw with Scott Boland last week and we're looking forward to announcing more of those signings in the coming weeks."