By Daniel Cherny and Andrew Wu
Wary of falling back into the trap of entitlement, Marcus Stoinis is trying to live in the moment but is hopeful he has sent a message to national selectors with a dominant Big Bash League campaign.
Dropped from both Australian white-ball squads last year following a poor 50-over World Cup in England, Stoinis is far and away the leading run-scorer this BBL season, amassing 607 runs for the Melbourne Stars at 60.7.
Stoinis has been playing as a non-bowling opening batsman, having not yet rolled the arm over during the tournament following a foot injury. However he insisted on Tuesday that he would be available to bowl in Friday night’s qualifying final against the Sydney Sixers at the MCG.
October’s Twenty20 World Cup on home soil looms large, however a road back into the side is not straightforward for Stoinis.
Australia’s T20 top order of David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell fired earlier this season, meaning Stoinis’ best hopes of a recall could come in the middle order, where he has not been batting for the Stars.
However Stoinis noted that he would likely bat down the order for the Delhi Capitals in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League.
Stoinis accepted, though, that batting at the top and in the middle were different propositions, with Adelaide Strikers batsman Jon Wells staking his own claim for a national call-up with a strong BBL campaign, making important runs at No. 4 and No. 5.
Other than some informal text messages with national coach Justin Langer, Stoinis said he hadn’t had any recent conversations with selectors, and was cautious not to expect a return to international duties.
"You've got to be careful with what you feel you deserve and I think I've probably been guilty of having expectations that you think other people should reward you for certain things,” Stoinis said.
“So I'm very aware, I'm just enjoying what I'm doing. I understand that the national selectors wanted me to go back to domestic cricket, or Big Bash cricket and dominate, so hopefully I've sent that message."
Australian batting great Mike Hussey, who acted as a mentor for the Australian T20 side earlier this season, said Stoinis could end up competing with Mitchell Marsh for an all-rounder’s spot, and questioned their respective bowling credentials.
“It seems to me selectors were keen on Ashton Agar in that all-rounder role, which worked well in the T20s against Pakistan and Sri Lanka,” Hussey said. “Then Stoinis and Mitch Marsh competing if they want a more seam-bowling all-rounder. It's probably out of those three for two spots. I feel as though that an all-rounder needs top-quality bowling overs, this is what I think they will be juggling with.
“You know with Ashton Agar you've got a good bowler in T20 that you can get four quality overs. His batting is not as powerful as Mitch Marsh or Stoinis, I see them as batting all-rounders. Have they got bowling capabilities to give four top-quality overs? I'm not sure they can.
''Stoinis needs to improve getting off strike, so does Mitch Marsh, but we know they have the power, but will their bowling be good enough?”
The Stars have lost three matches in a row heading into the final however Stoinis is optimistic they will be able to rebound.
“It’s all good. If you can’t be happy when you finish on top of the ladder then it is going to be a hard career for any individual,” Stoinis said.
“Losing three in a row, I’d probably be more concerned if we had won three in a row.”
The Stars will regain Pakistani paceman Haris Rauf for Friday night’s clash but will be without leggie Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepalese duties) and batsman Hilton Cartwright (broken hand).