Beaten but unbowed, Melbourne Stars coach Stephen Fleming says that his team has the talent and desire to reload and challenge for the next Big Bash League title.
After failing at the semi-final stage in the first four editions of the BBL, Stars fell agonisingly short in their first final - beaten by three wickets in the last over by Sydney Thunder.
Led by a swashbuckling 74 from Kevin Pietersen, recently signed to a new two-year contract, the Stars couldn't get over the line in front of 47,672 fans at the MCG but Fleming believes he has the makings of a title-winning team.
"We've got petrol in the tank. I think we played well but I certainly see more areas of improvement for us," Fleming said.
"We've got the pieces in place and we're pretty close to having the pieces in place for a number of years.
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"I look forward to getting back into it but it's a long wait now unfortunately."
Fleming took some solace from his belief that Thunder, led by man-of-the-final Usman Khawaja, were simply the better side in a fiercely-fought contest.
Khawaja made 70 runs off 40 balls after he survived a huge shout for LBW when he was on 37, with television replays showing he was perhaps fortunate to remain at the crease.
"It was close - it's inches isn't it? I could moan and groan but we all saw it and it was so close," Fleming said.
"When it's a key player it gets more focus and that was certainly a key time as well, just after the six overs when we were looking to get back into the game. It would have been nice if it went our way but it didn't.
"But it was actually just a great final - when you're lamenting small things it means it was a good final with two deserving teams."
Stars were without key players Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner, Scott Boland and John Hastings for the latter part of BBL05 - after they were all called into the Australian ODI squad - but Fleming refused to use that as an excuse.
He said that he had planned for their departure and, instead, praised the input of squad players like Evan Gulbis and Daniel Worrall who wouldn't otherwise have had opportunities to play.
