What was set to be a very forgettable ODI clash between Australia and New Zealand at Eden Park became headline news thanks to one man – Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis.
Stoinis produced one of the most remarkable individual performances you will ever see to almost single-handedly steal victory for Australia and he has now stamped himself as the Next Big Thing in Australian cricket.
Stoinis is not only a talented cricketer, but an interesting individual and we have found ten things you probably didn’t know about our newest cricket star.
He Broke Plenty Of Records
Stoinis’ performance against New Zealand was truly one for the ages.
Australia has produced many excellent all-rounders over the years, but Stoinis is the only Australian to score a century and take a minimum of three wickets in an ODI game.
He now also holds the record for the highest ODI score for an Australia batting at number seven and the highest ODI score for a player in their second game, while with Josh Hazlewood he now holds the record for the Highest 10th Wicket Partnership with a scoreless partner.
He Represented Australia At The Hong Kong Sixes
Stoinis has represented Australia in ODI and Twenty20 cricket, but he first wore the green and gold of Australia when he represented Australia at the 2009 Hong Kong Sixes.
The Hong Kong Sixes is the cricket (and far less popular) equivalent of the Hong Kong Rugby Union Sevens and is one of the few cricketing events that have not been dominated by Australia.
Stoinis was joined in the Australian team by Glenn Maxwell and Josh Hazlewood, but they failed to win a game in the pool stages – they were even beaten by cricket powerhouses Hong Kong.
He Is Mates With Daniel Ricciardo
This is definitely a point in favour of Stoinis – any bloke that is a mate of Daniel Ricciardo is ok by us.
We are yet to confirm reports that Stoinis celebrated his historic knock with a shoey…
He Was Dumped By Western Australia
Stoinis has been somewhat of a late bloomer as a cricketer.
He represented Australia at the 2008 Under 19 World Cup – a team that included the likes of Phil Hughes, Steve Smith, James Faulkner and Josh Hazlewood – and he made his first class debut for Western Australia in 2009, but he failed to fire and was let go by Western Australia at the end of the year.
He Dominated The Northampton Premier League
After getting dropped by Western Australia Stoinis did not play first-class cricket for almost four years, but it was during this period that he really developed as a cricketer.
He played club cricket for Northcote in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition and went to England to play for Peterborough Town Cricket Club in the Northampton Premier League in 2012, where he dominated the competition.
The Perth Scorchers gave him a chance shortly afterwards and he eventually scored a contract with Victoria.
He Wanted To Be An Architect
Stoinis did not actually dream of playing cricket for Australia – when he was a youngster he wanted to be an architect.
Hopefully he hasn’t followed the George Costanza route of inspiring architect’s that were unable to follow their dreams!
He Has Hit Six Sixes In An Over
The most recent ODI was not the first time that Stoinis has shown off his big-hitting abilities.
Stoinis was playing for the National Performance Squad in a 50-over game against the National Indigenous Squad at Allan Border Field in 2015 when he hit Brendan Smith for his six sixes in a single over.
His Nickname Is Oil
Stoinis was originally given the fairly uninspiring nickname Stonia when he first started his career with Western Australia, but Victoria have improved on that effort substantially and now call him Oil.
Stoinis believes it is due to the fact that looks like an oil painting – his words – but it seems to have more to do with the fact that he has been caught using tanning oil by his teammates.
He Has The Trendiest Haircut In Australian Cricket
To be perfectly honest, one of the reasons I wasn’t a particularly big fan of Stoinis before his heroics was due to his haircut.
There is no doubt that he has replaced Shane Watson for the title of the trendiest haircut in Australian cricket and it is clear that he loves spending time in front of the mirror.
He Quickly Turned Public Opinion
There were plenty of Australian cricket fans questioning the inclusion of Marcus Stoinis – myself included – and it is rare to see a cricketer be able to turn around public opinion so quickly.
Can Stoinis go on and join Steve Smith and David Warner as once demonised players that are now favourites sons?
For the sake of Australian cricket lets hope so.