Marcus Stoinis opens up on impact of being fined for homophobic slur towards Kane Richardson
Marcus Stoinis has spoken openly and honestly about the impact of being fined for delivering a homophobic sledge towards Kane Richardson following his record-breaking Big Bash innings.
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Marcus Stoinis says he carried the disappointment of being fined for a homophobic slur for 10 days and hopes it won’t taint his character forever.
The Melbourne Stars opener said he was even extra nervous before his record-breaking Big Bash innings of 147 on Sunday night as the fallout from the incident continued to linger.
Stoinis, who was fined $7500 for allegedly calling Renegades and Australian one-day bowler Kane Richardson a “faggot” during the local derby on January 4, conceded his behaviour just wasn’t acceptable.
Richardson, in India with the Australian one-day team, said the verbal attack was “out of character” from his former teammate. He said he didn’t want an apology but hoped the lessons learned would ensure it never happened again.
A contrite Stoinis said the exchange with good-friend Richardson went too far and conceded his behaviour didn’t represent who he was.
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“He (Richardson) is a good mate and over the last couple of games we have played he has wound me up a few times. But it’s no excuse to use words like that. I went too far and it’s not acceptable,” Stoinis said.
“It’s not the type of person I am, it’s not who I want to be and I understand it’s out of line.
“It’s not I how I was raised. I am not proud of it but I have to cop that on the chin and roll with it now.
“Hopefully other people learn from my mistakes and that’s all you can do. You can’t take anything back, you’ve got to show it by your actions going forward.”
Stoinis said he had “definitely” carried the fallout with him since the incident. But he said he was human, and not free from making mistakes.
“It doesn’t sit well with my character and who I want to be. Equally, I understand who I am and I’ve also got to give myself some slack and accept that I am human and can mistakes as well,” he said.
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“Hopefully other people see that as being genuine. It’s a great learning experience for me and hopefully other people as well.”
The 30-year-old, who is the leading run-scorer in the BBL this season after being dropped from the Australian one-day team, also said he would continue to “express myself” on the field.
Stoinis said the environment at the Stars was about encouraging all players to be themselves and that was a key to their, and his success so far.
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“We have worked hard as a group, the whole organisation, the whole focus is for everyone to feel empowered to express themselves and more often than not it comes out in really good ways,” he said.
“That’s what our environment is about, we want to leave here, with everyone saying “that time I played for the Stars was the best time of my life’.”