Australia’s star allrounder ‘definitely interested’ in captaining BBL club after Glenn Maxwell stepped down
Marcus Stoinis has confirmed he would “love” to captain Melbourne Stars as the club plots its path back to finals in KFC BBL|14.
The Stars are on the hunt for a new skipper this summer after long-time leader Glenn Maxwell announced at the end of last season he was stepping down from the role to focus on playing following six years at the helm.
Stoinis, one of the standout players of the ongoing men’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and United States, appears the frontrunner to replace Maxwell and told the Unplayable Podcast he was “definitely interested” in taking it on.
The 34-year-old has been with the Stars since 2013 (BBL|03) and signed a three-year extension in January to remain with the MCG-based club until at least the end of BBL|16.
The allrounder has played 98 matches for the Stars, second only to Maxwell’s 103, and is also second behind Maxwell (2792) on the club’s all-time runs tally with 2656.
“I would love to do it, I love the Stars,” Stoinis said ahead of Australia’s first Super Eight match against Bangladesh in Antigua on Thursday (10.30am Friday AEST).
“I’ve been there for what feels like forever and I’ve got no plans of going anywhere, that’s a team I want to create some success with.
“I’m just also glad that I’ve committed for the next three years and I can start planning being around Melbourne during the Christmas and New Year’s period.”
If he does get the nod, Stoinis would be tasked with lifting the club out of the bottom half of the table as they continue their search for an elusive first Big Bash title.
Under Maxwell, the Stars lost the decider in BBL|08 (to the Renegades) and BBL|09 (to the Sixers) but have missed the finals in the four seasons since.
After the Perth Scorchers (11) and Sydney Sixers (10), no other club has qualified for more BBL finals campaigns than the Stars’ eight. They’ve also reached the season decider three times, but along with Hobart Hurricanes, they are the only teams yet to win it.
Stoinis is optimistic the club is heading in the right direction and believes they turned over a new leaf last season under new head coach Peter Moores.
They’ve since added a T20 high performance manger, former Stars seamer and Aussie assistant coach for the World Cup, Clint McKay, as part of Cricket Victoria’s renewed focus on T20 cricket to help lift their struggling Big Bash clubs.
“I think we did take good steps forward last year,” the right-hander said. “The feeling in the group was different.
“It feels like we’re building, it feels like we’ve got the right coaching staff.
“We’ve got a new coach, Peter Moores, he’s as experienced as any coach in the world right now … I honestly couldn’t speak higher of him.
“So that’s exciting that he’s obviously back with us.”
Stoinis captained the Stars once in BBL|13 against Perth Scorchers when Maxwell missed through injury, which is his sole experience leading a side at professional level outside of club cricket and underage level.
“It would create another fun, interesting challenge to add to the Big Bash, which is a home comp(etition),” he said.
He flagged an announcement on “another couple of signings” was not far away, adding that he and Maxwell would also enter this summer’s tournament fresher than in the past, and especially last season when the BBL kicked off barely two weeks after Australia’s marathon ODI World Cup campaign in India.
“It’s always hard because you get to the BBL and we’ve been on the road for a bloody long time,” Stoinis said.
“(This year) I don’t get home until September and that would have been seven months (on the road).
“From September to the Big Bash, I’m planning on chilling out a little bit at least.”
The Stars last week secured the first pick in the league’s overseas player draft for the second year in a row.