Marcus Stoinis takes a massive step on his future in Australian Cricket

In a recent development, Australian international all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has penned a 3-year contract extension with Big Bash League outfit Melbourne Stars after his current deal expired with the club at the end of the recently concluded season. The Stars finished 6th in the BBL 2023/24 points table with 8 points, one place above cross-town rivals Melbourne Renegades who finished their campaign at 7th with 6 points to their name.

Marcus Stoinis is among the few key players in the Stars team who were seeing their contracts run out after last season. Moreover, there were talks around the town about a few other BBL clubs looking to sign the all-rounder who has been a part of the Stars for the last decade, since the 2013/14 season.

Therefore, it became even more imperative for the Stars to go all out and try to keep their main man from moving to another BBL club. Among the clubs that were looking to sign Stoinis was Perth Scorchers, which is a club based out of Western Australia, the same region for which he plays domestic and First-class cricket.

Marcus Stoinis had started off his BBL career with hometown outfit Perth Scorchers a season before switching allegiance to the green side of Melbourne. In his first season (2012/13), the 34-year-old played just 3 games for the Scorchers and the lack of game time was one of the reasons why he moved to Melbourne Stars.

During his initial years as a cricketer, Marcus Stoinis dealt with inconsistency, something we have witnessed in the Indian Premier League as well. And that was a very solid reason for the Scorchers to let him go before he went on to become an important player for the Australia national team.

He is also the club’s 2nd captain after 2023 World Cup winner Glenn Maxwell who captained the Stars for the better parts of last season. Stoinis is also in line to become just the 2nd player to appear 100 times for the club next season and he currently has an experience of 98 games for the Stars, scoring more than 2000 runs from the top order and has also racked up over 30 wickets since 2013/14.

After signing the new deal, Marcus Stoinis has become a major contender to lead the Melbourne Stars from the 2024/25 season after Maxwell stepped down from captaincy at the end of the previous edition which the Brisbane Heat won by 54 runs against Sydney Sixers in the finale.

Marcus Stoinis Will Aim To Help Melbourne Stars Towards Maiden BBL Title Next Year

Marcus Stoinis’ contract extension will see him stay at the club until the end of the 2026/27 season and till then he has ample amount of time to try and help the Stars land their maiden Big Bash League title. Since the revamped edition began in 2011 onwards, the Stars have reached the semi-finals on 5 occasions and have been runners-up thrice in 2015/16, 2018/19, and 2019/20.

They had a terrible last season, winning just 4 games out of the 10. The season was not that special for Marcus Stoinis either as he scored 187 runs at a strike rate of over 145 including 2 half-centuries. Stoinis did not bowl much last season and operated more like a specialist batter.

He is currently playing the SAT20 league in South Africa for the Durban Super Giants after which he will fly back to Australia for their 3-match T20I series against West Indies.