In January 2017, Marcus Stoinis played the innings of his life.
Chasing 287 to win at Eden Park, Stoinis come out to bat with the score at 5-54 after 13 overs and made an incredible 146 not out.
Sadly, Australia fell six runs short when number 11 Josh Hazlewood was run out at the non-striker’s end without facing a ball.
After that, there was a hope that Australian cricket had uncovered a star and that Stoinis would be an important member of the side for years to come.
But in the nearly four years since, Stoinis has failed to perform to international standard.
In 2015, he played a single ODI and made four runs at a strike rate of 80.
In 2017, he batted seven times to make 341 runs at 113.67 and a strike rate 100.29.
In 2018, he batted 13 times and made 376 runs at 28.92 at a strike rate of 96.66.
In 2019, he batted 17 times and made 329 runs at 23.50 at a strike rate of 80.44.
In 2020, Stoinis has batted three times so far and made 56 runs at 18.67 at a strike rate of 101.82.
Looking at those numbers, Stoinis had a good run of form in 2017 but hasn’t performed since.
It’s been argued that, in order for Stoinis to do well, he needs to bat at the top of order so that he has time to get into his innings but he was given that opportunity during the recent ODI series in England and he didn’t perform.
Looking at Stoinis’ IPL record, he’s done fairly well while batting in the middle order.
In the 2019 IPL, Stoinis made 211 runs at 52.75 at a strike rate of 135.26, while in the World Cup that immediately followed he made just 87 runs at 14.50 at a strike rate of 76.99.
Stoinis has never really had an issue batting in the middle order, just in doing it at international level.
With Mitch Marsh picking up an injury during the IPL, it creates an opportunity for a pace all-rounder in the ODI team and the selectors will be tempted to pick Stoinis again.
But the selectors should look to younger players like Cameron Green, Jack Edwards or Jack Wildermuth.
Spanner
Roar Rookie
No, no he is not !
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Yeah if he hasn't repeated anything like that knock by now, it's unlikely he ever will. He's totally unlikely to be anything remotely resembling a key player at the next world cup in two and a half years, so definitely time to move on. Eating up deliveries as a slow starter is fine if you go on with it, but very problematic if you don't - especially if the times you don't far outnumber the times you do. I guess it's almost a saving grace for Maxy: he may not go on with it as often as we'd like, but at least he doesn't burn up valuable deliveries on the days he doesn't, even if they are the majority of occasions.
The Bush
Roar Guru
As much as anyone might love his energy or how he goes about his work, the reality is that Stoinis has never been up to it at international level in ODIs. His List A batting record is an average of 32.60 at 87.50. This is almost identical to his ODI record (his current strike rate is a little better at 92). There are a few players throughout history who have performed clearly better at international level, compared to their domestic record, but this is rare. It's especially rare for a player who was picked at at 26 and only became a regular player at 28, as compared to say a player who's picked at 20, before they had a chance to build a proper domestic record. The fact is this - why would player at his age, suddenly start performing at a level far beyond his record at domestic level? The story is a bit different in T20s; his domestic record is pretty good and that includes plenty of games in the IPL, a far better league than our own BBL. the question though is whether there's room for him as an opener? If not, I don't think there's room for him further down the order with the likes of Marsh and Maxwell being better and about he same age or younger.
John Timothy
Guest
I won't say that he's not up to international standard. But tbh, he's a T20 'opener' only. Not a middle order batsman as he's a slow starter who fails to rotate the strike and eats up too many balls to get going. His shot selections are poor at times as well. Don't expect him to repeat his 'Eden Park' heroics in any form of the game, especially in ODIs. That was just one helluva knock! M Marsh is way better than him batting at 6, followed by Maxwell at 7.
Paul
Roar Guru
There's two guys I think have been hard done by in recent years; Aaron Finch being asked to open the batting in Tests (and not tried down the order) and Stoinis not being given a go at the top of the order, especially in T20's. In that sense, these two have had international careers akin to fitting round pegs in square holes.
Tom
No, no he is not.
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
It seems slightly silly now but I can certainly understand the selectors going for Stoinis because of that innings. I watched the whole thing and it was something I'm not likely to forget. It's a much overused adjective but that knock was truly awesome, especially in the context of that game. I was hoping to see him repeat it somewhere along the line but it doesn't look as though that's too likely now. Such a pity really. It's rare to see someone manhandle a very decent attack like he did that day.
TJ
Guest
As an opener, yes. In the middle order, jury's still out. Think he'll definitely be given a few chances but he's certainly not a walk up starter like he has been over the last few years.