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Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis signed a three-year contract extension with the Melbourne Stars, meaning he will represent the franchise until the end of the 2026-27 season.
The 34-year-old was one of several players coming out of contract with the Stars, with other clubs displaying interest in acquiring the all-rounder. Stoinis began his BBL career with the Perth Scorchers in 2012-13 before moving with the Stars the following season.
Despite being based out of Perth and playing domestic cricket for Western Australia, Stoinis has been with the Melbourne franchise over the last 11 seasons. The West Australia-born cricketer is also a potential frontrunner for the Stars' captaincy role after Glenn Maxwell stepped down at the end of last season.
Stars endured another dismal campaign in the recently concluded 2023-24 BBL, finishing sixth on the points table with four wins and six losses.
Stoinis had a mediocre season, scoring only 169 runs in nine innings at an average of 24.14 and a strike rate of 135.20. He was also ineffective with the ball, picking up the lone wicket in eight stints at an alarmingly high economy rate of almost 11.
The Stars are one of the two BBL clubs (Hobart Hurricanes being the other) to have never won the title and have failed to qualify for the playoffs in the previous four seasons.
Stoinis is currently part of the Durban Super Giants franchise in the ongoing SA20.
"Got no intention of retiring from international cricket" - Marcus Stoinis
Marcus Stoinis recently stated his willingness to continue playing international cricket despite being left out of the Australian ODI squad for the upcoming series against the West Indies.
The 34-year-old endured a woeful 2023 season with the bat, scoring only 191 runs in 13 games at an average of under 20.
Stoinis also wished to play for Australia in the shortest format, with the T20 World Cup coming up in June, after playing a crucial role in their triumph in 2021.
He was quoted by ESPN Cricinfo saying:
"I've got no intention of retiring from international cricket or anything like that. I think it makes complete sense. lI'll be going to South Africa to play for my IPL franchise Lucknow over there which Cricket Australia has been in the loop with the whole time. So I think all makes sense to be honest. I've got every intention to play T20 cricket for Australia as long as I can, as long as they want me. "
Stoinis has been a regular in the Australian white-ball side over the past few years, with 127 combined ODI and T20I games under his belt.
The veteran has scored over 2,400 runs and picked up 72 wickets as a batting all-rounder in the middle order.
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