Swepson moves to Melbourne Stars on deadline day

Melbourne Stars have signed Queensland legspinner Mitchell Swepson on a three-year deal on the final day of the BBL's first player movement window.

Swepson, 31, had been Brisbane Heat's acting captain during the most recent BBL season when Colin Munro was injured, with permanent skipper Usman Khawaja playing just one game for the season. The legspinner played for Heat for 10 years and was a key contributor to their 2023-24 BBL title win but did not have his best season in 2024-25 taking just four wickets in nine games with an economy rate of 8.93.

Swepson was not one of the 10 players contracted to Heat prior to the player movement window and Stars have pounced to sign him to a three-year deal on the final day of the window.

"First of all I'd like to thank the Brisbane Heat for all the opportunities they gave me and kickstarting my T20 career," Swepson said.

"I'll be forever grateful for all of the support they've given me and my family over the years.

"I'm really excited to sign for the Stars and watching from afar this year, the team took some huge steps forward.

"I can't wait to head to Melbourne and the MCG next summer and get stuck in to working with Stoin [Marcus Stoinis], Peter Moores and the team."

Swepson has played T20I cricket for Australia but has not played international cricket since 2022. Stars only had one specialist spinner among their nine contracted players and were pleased to add some experience to their list.

"We've been on the lookout for a high performing domestic spinner and Mitch will form an important part of the Stars attack over the next 3 years," Melbourne Stars General Manager Blair Crouch said.

"As well as his talent with the ball, Mitch is a very experienced T20 player in Australia, will provide valuable leadership and support to Marcus Stoinis and, at 31, is at the peak of his powers."

Stars were not able to land any other big fish in the player movement window despite trying to lure Tim David and Mitchell Marsh to the franchise. Crouch is set to depart his role in April but coach Peter Moores is set to continue despite being out of contract.

Elsewhere, Melbourne Renegades confirmed the signing of Hobart Hurricanes title-winning opener Caleb Jewell on the final day of the player movement period. Jewell was contracted to Hurricanes but has been traded to Renegades on a two-year deal.

Renegades were the most active club during the player movement window having already signed free agents Jason Behrendorff and Brendan Doggett.

A number of high quality players remain uncontracted to BBL clubs including David, Marsh, Matthew Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne and D'Arcy Short among others. It is expected that most of those players will remain at their current clubs but will not be able to be formally re-signed until March as the BBL enters a contracting embargo period.