Marcus Stoinis a student of the game ready to graduate at World Cup for Australia
Whether in the IPL or the international scene, Marcus Stoinis is a sponge for advice from legends of the game. With Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting fans, now is the time for him to put those lessons in to practice on the world stage.
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Marcus Stoinis is tapping into cricket’s world bank of knowledge.
In every corner he is looking for a transaction.
At the recent Indian Premier League, Stoinis stood at the non-striker’s end as teammate AB de Villiers swept a fast bowler to the ropes.
Stoinis later looked on in awe as ‘AB’ deposited a “beamer” on to roof at Bangalore.
“I said to him as soon as he hit it: ‘Mate, by the end of the IPL you are teaching me that shot’,” Stoinis told the Herald Sun.
“I said: ‘I want to walk out of the IPL playing a sweep shot to one of the quicks’.
“Before we said goodbye, because we didn’t speak about it in the end, I said to him: ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to Skype you’.
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“He probably thought I was joking, but I would.”
After last month’s practice match against Sri Lanka in Southampton, Stoinis tapped the uniquely gifted Lasith Malinga and asked for a tutorial on slower balls.
They are Malinga’s best friend — and a batsmen’s worst enemy.
“I expect him to now bowl a dipping slower ball,” Malinga, who didn’t even play that day, laughed afterwards.
In January, Stoinis even eavesdropped on a mystery spin session in Moe, as Adam Zampa interrupted Afghan whiz Rashid Khan’s post-BBL match Calippo icy-pole for a bowl.
There is interest everywhere for the man Shane Warne wants batting at No. 6 when the Ashes begin on August 1.
Most of Stoinis’s teammates, including Zampa, Aaron Finch and Pat Cummins, refreshed for the World Cup by relaxing in April.
Not Stoinis. Instead, he headed for Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he joined de Villiers and Virat Kohli in a team of champions.
“That was energising for my career,” Stoinis said.
The lessons were wide-ranging. There was a focus on simplicity and advice from Kohli and de Villers to mimic MS Dhoni’s uncanny ability of dragging games to the last ball.
“Rule number one of finishing games is, winning or losing, you’ve got to be there at the end,” Stoinis said.
“It’s a polarising game — you’re either the hero or the villain.”
The straight-hitter even played his first ever pair of laps, and while both raced to the rope, they came off the final ball of the innings.
But Stoinis’s thirst for knowledge comes with a cost.
Excluding three days in January, when the 30-year-old’s Melbourne Stars travelled to play Perth Scorchers, he hasn’t been home since before the BBL started last December.
If Warne gets his way, and Stoinis is selected for the Ashes, it’ll be nearly 300 consecutive days on the road with Stoinis not due back until late September.
There’s a brooding depth to the powerful allrounder. His late father, Chris, taught him there will be time to enjoy life after cricket.
Stoinis carried around a notepad during Chris’s long-running battle with blood cancer, ensuring no memories slipped through to the keeper.
“I wrote it all down, but you don’t need to — you don’t forget that stuff,” he said.
“A lot of it was nothing to do with cricket, a lot of it is stuff absorbed into the person I am.”
Music helps Stoinis keep his life upbeat when on the road.
He shares an “eclectic” Spotify play list with best mates Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa, which is stacked with Kanye tracks and balanced by Angus and Julia Stone.
Stoinis and Zampa are comfortably affectionate, often to their own amusement. Sometimes they entertain themselves by holding hands in front of TV cameras.
It seems Stoinis fits in no matter which dressing room he’s in. He’s even best mates with F1 star Daniel Ricciardo, poking humour at Ricciardo reversing into another car at April’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“I said to him: ‘Mate you’ve got a $15 million car and there’s no reverse camera, what’s going on with that?’”
But there are difficult relationships, too. Like the one he has with Mitch Marsh, who was Australia’s first-choice allrounder in all three formats not so long ago.
By the end of last summer, Marsh was out of the Test squad and Stoinis was in, albeit on standby. Only one of them is in England for the World Cup.
“It’s tough, because we get on so well. We’ve known each other since we were 15-16,” Stoinis said.
“It’s just one of those things where you know you’re going for the same position in the team.
“I can’t speak for Mitch, but there’s no room for jealousy because it’s too tiring to live like that.
“Hopefully going forward it’s a team we can both play in. We’ve both played together for Australia quite a few times.”
There’s no safety net for Stoinis at the World Cup. If he struggles, there isn’t another seaming allrounder in the squad that coach Justin Langer can call upon.
“It’s a nice compliment, or a nice bit of faith,” Stoinis said.
“It probably suits me. I want to go there I want to dominate a World Cup I want Australia to win.”
That has some fans wary. Stoinis was Australia’s ODI player of the year in 2018, but made only 16 runs in three innings when Australia smashed Pakistan 5-0 in March.
“I had a lean tour, but then again I wasn’t really required to do much,” Stoinis said.
“This isn’t an excuse, but I do definitely feel like I enjoy responsibility. I do feel I get the best out of myself when there’s a game on the line.”
Former selector Mark Waugh has questioned whether Stoinis takes too long to warm up — his strike-rate after 10 balls is around 65 — and Ricky Ponting noted he was a nervous starter.
But the package is a good one. And, all ears and eyes in cricketing company, his knowledge is widening.
STEEP LEARNINGS
WHAT VIRAT KOHLI TAUGHT MARCUS STOINIS
“If you go into a contest with more belief and more energy and more conviction than the bowler running in, then (Kohli) feels 99/100 he’ll come out on top.
“If you’re standing there at the crease with that conviction that you’re going to win this battle and that you’re going to play the way you want to play for the rest of that day, that’s what he believes is one of the main things — that mindset.”
WHAT AB de VILLIERS TAUGHT MARCUS STOINIS
“AB talks about keeping batting really basic. Standing nice and still, reading the situation and being nice and sharp early in terms of where he wants to score his runs.
“And then batting basic drills, like using no feet to exaggerate that fact of standing nice and still and watching the ball, seeing the ball and reacting to that actual ball, rather than picking shots that aren’t there. That’s all really basic, but that’s what he feels gives him the best chance to perform.”
HIGH PRAISE
SHANE WARNE says MARCUS STOINIS is made for Test match cricket:
“He’s got a lot of intensity, he’s got that X-factor about him and I think he’s a match-winner. He’s one of those players with the ability to drag the team with them.
“Stoinis has got that character and spirit about him, a bit like a Merv Hughes or an Andrew Flintoff or a Darren Gough.
RICKY PONTING says MARCUS STOINIS should bat as high as No. 3 in ODI cricket:
“I like his presence and his ball-striking ability. If there’s been a knock on his batting, it’s been that he he’s a bit of a shaky, nervous starter and takes a lot of balls to get moving.
“I just like the overall package with him really. He’s probably our best outfielder. I’m working with him a lot on a daily basis and I think he can have a big impact on this World Cup.
Originally published as Marcus Stoinis a student of the game ready to graduate at World Cup for Australia
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