"It's a shame I didn't get to finish what I started," lamented Tim Coyle after being dismissed as Melbourne Renegades' WBBL coach.
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Back-to-back finals appearances weren't enough to prevent the Launceston 59-year-old become one of 50 redundancies as Cricket Victoria announced a "significant re-shaping" as a result of the coronavirus epidemic.
Coyle has a long and successful coaching career, including guiding Tasmania to a clutch of domestic titles and playing a key role in the development of the Australian women's team.
His axing made big news in cricket circles with the story reported as far afield as The Times of India.
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The Renegades and their BBL neighbours Melbourne Stars were integrated into Cricket Victoria last June in a restructure which saw the boards and chief executives of both clubs terminated.
Coyle's exit leaves both WBBL clubs without a head coach after Leah Poulton quit her post at the Stars.
"The reasons are fairly obvious and I wish them all the best," Coyle said.
"Once the Cricket Australia crisis was known, everybody in cricket had some doubt about their tenure in roles.
"As an outside contractor living in Tasmania, I probably did not fit the bill so it was probably an easy decision for them.
"It's unfinished business but there are bigger, more important things happening in the world at the moment than Tim Coyle and cricket."
Appointed for the WBBL03 season, Coyle led the Renegades to sixth place before fourth-place finishes in the next two campaigns.
In 2019, they tied their semi-final with reigning champions Sydney Sixers who then won the one-over eliminator and last season they lost at the same stage to eventual champions Brisbane Heat.
"It was a good challenge. They were cellar dwellers, we made an improvement in the first year, made finals for the first time in the second and last year we had our best ever season.
"We weren't far off in those semis. We learned a lot from that and there was a lot to like about where we were going. We were on the right curve and I thought we could win it."
Coyle's time in charge also saw Renegades players Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham and Molly Strano feature in Australia's T20 World Cup win.
Cricket Victoria general manager Shaun Graf said Coyle's exit took nothing away from his contribution to the Renegades.
A member of St Patrick's College's state title-winning team in 1977, Coyle was a well-respected wicket-keeper with home-town club Launceston and played seven first-class matches for Tasmania before finding his niche as a coach.
Overseeing the development of the Tigers' golden generation, Coyle led them to Sheffield Shield triumphs in 2007, '11 and '13 and one-day titles in 2008 and '10.
He was appointed Country Club Tasmania's community engagement manager last September.