Melbourne Stars heading towards the wooden spoon after massive defeat against Sydney Sixers

THE Melbourne Stars are out of lifelines. President Eddie McGuire’s franchise can’t phone a friend, but fans might want to hear from their ‘fearless leader’ who has been noticeably silent amid the team’s dismal run.

THE Melbourne Stars are out of lifelines.

President Eddie McGuire’s franchise can’t phone a friend, and an audience poll on Tuesday night wouldn’t have delivered great feedback as just 26,130 attended a dull night at the MCG. Where are you, Ed? This season, a dismal one, you have been seen but not heard. Tuesday night’s crowd was little more than half the 46,671 which watched last year’s loss to the Sixers at the MCG. Worryingly, the faded and jaded Stars still have two home games left and have lost seven of their past eight at the MCG. Perhaps it’s time frustrated fans heard from their leader. What’s gone wrong this summer? Why should the 10,000 members come back on Saturday? How many changes loom? How do you plan on fixing this mess? Their eight-wicket loss to the Sixers, completed with 29 balls to spare, dumped the Stars to the bottom of the Big Bash ladder and seemingly on their way to the wooden spoon. The tournament’s two rock star teams have both played without a beat this season, but the Stars looked far more out of tune. Test star Nathan Lyon showed he’s a white-ball threat with 3-18 on an easy night for the visitors. Lyon was on a hat-trick after removing Pietersen and then Ben Dunk with a Sixers win never headed from there. The Ben Dunk-Luke Wright opening partnership again looked as unconvincing as a toupee. Wright’s best score from his past six Stars knocks is 21, while six of Dunk’s seven knocks in green have failed to hit double digits. Pete Handscomb said Dunk’s job was to blast about four starts in the 10-game season. Well, he’s provided one platform with only three games remaining. Pietersen keeps throwing away his wicket and was again caught slogging, while James ‘The Finisher’ Faulkner’s strike-rate again hovered around 100 — well below par for Twenty20 cricket. Scott Boland, Michael Beer and Rob Quiney have been dumped from the line-up and Ben Hilfenhaus hasn’t got a look in this season. The questions continue to mount, although the failed campaign does highlight how impressive the Stars were to qualify for the first six semi-finals. Why did Wright, 32, open? New Zealand great and Heat captain Brendon McCullum noted you want your best batsmen facing the most balls, and so it appears Glenn Maxwell and Handscomb are wasted at No.4 and 5. Handscomb helped hammer the Renegades on Friday night and wanted to stay on as opener, but was returned to the middle order. Maxwell bats at No.3 against the red ball and lower for the Stars, although wins a rare tick for the season. With the finals chances shot, why was youngster Seb Gotch the 12th man? Who is the Stars’ next strike bowler? At 1-6 it’s been a season of scars for the shell-shocked Stars, stranded in unfamiliar surrounds. A big sporting club facing mediocrity might sound familiar for Collingwood fans, so McGuire should be well-equipped to steer the ship. RECAP ALL THE ACTION IN THE BLOG BELOW