Marcus Stoinis: The Australian all-rounder has expressed support for the three innovative rule changes in the Big Bash League.
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Australia and Melbourne Stars all-rounder Marcus Stoinis finds the three new rules set to be applied in the upcoming 10th season of the Big Bash League “exciting”. Stoinis, 31, has welcomed the criticism coming towards the changes but has also opined that the changes have it in them to add to the greatness of the competition.
“I think it’s exciting, I think it will be good for the competition. Like everything new, they are bound to be some teething problems or some people who don’t like it. But, look, that’s part of the way we are going; we’ve got to adapt, we’ve got to look to create a better game, or a more exciting game, for viewers at some stage as well. The Big Bash is such a great competition and this could add to it,” Stoinis said in a media interaction on Saturday.
Slated to make the game more intriguing to the extent that it allures more fans, Stoinis admits to understanding the purpose behind the change and is rooting for the same to happen in BBL 2020-21.
So had a day to think about new BBL rules. My biggest issue is that the BBL is all about (and great at) getting new people involved whom have never played. But the rule changes complicate what’s already a very complicated game (for newcomers). Shouldn’t we be going the other way?
— Usman Khawaja (@Uz_Khawaja) November 17, 2020
“I hope the rule changes work well for the game and excite the fans. I understand the purpose of them, I don’t think we can afford to get too attached to anything when it comes to Twenty20 cricket and the progression of our sport. So, I am all for it. I am just going with the flow and I am excited about the competition,” Stoinis further said.
Marcus Stoinis looking forward to the ‘Power Surge’
In addition to the X-factor Player, BBL 10 will also see ‘Power Surge’ and ‘Bash Boost’ which will doubtlessly increase the tactical side of things and the involvement of coaches. Forecasting the same, Stoinis laid emphasis on altering his batting approach especially to make optimum use of the two-over power surge which will be available to the batting team after the 10-over mark.
Since the start of 2019, Stoinis has been phenomenal as an opening batsman for Stars scoring 1,204 runs in 27 matches at an average and strike rate of 57.33 and 134.08 respectively. Him scoring a century and 10 half-centuries in the same period speaks highly about his prowess at the top of the order.
As an opening batsman, someone like Stoinis will have eyes on the two-over power surge to ensure that a set batsman utilizes it after the 10th over. The same might also adversely affect teams – something which will make teams ponder about the right team before opting for what is virtually a two-over powerplay in the second half of a T20 innings.
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“I’m going to have to figure out how to try and be there for that second powerplay. But that’s the interesting part – there’s going to be a lot more tactics, the captains are going to be busy, the coaches are going to be a bit busier; we’ll give them a bit of c**p about it, saying once the game starts they just sit there around the boundary and don’t do so much. So we’ll get them involved.
“You will see people batting a little bit differently. And then they have got the point that’s available after the first ten overs as well. So you can’t cruise from that four-to-ten-over mark waiting for the powerplay. There’s definitely going to have to be a bit more communication going back and forth. There will probably be a few floaters in the batting order, people specifically going out there for those sorts of things,” Stoinis mentioned.
