Young stars headline Australia’s ODI squad as Marcus Stoinis downfall continues
The international career of Marcus Stoinis appears to be on life support, with the experienced all-rounder snubbed for Australia’s upcoming ODI series against the West Indies on home soil.
The 34-year-old has struggled for form over the past 12 months and was ultimately left out of the green and gold line-up for the home-stretch of their successful World Cup campaign, which culminated with an impressive win over India in the tournament final.
Stoinis was seen as Australia’s top white-ball all-rounder for several years, making 60 appearances in the one-day side since his debut in 2015, as well as featuring a further 57 times in the T20I outfit.
However, his recent struggles with the bat have seen Stoinis dropped in favour of West Australian young gun Aaron Hardie, while in-form batter Matt Short has also been included after dominating the BBL across the past two seasons.
Since the beginning of last year, Stoinis has averaged 19.9 runs per innings in the Australian one-day side, while his bowling – once regarded as a crucial aspect of the side’s attack – has become less of a factor, taking just 11 wickets before being axed.
But his downward spiral within the ODI setup stretches back even further than just the 2023 calendar year, with Stoinis failing to reach a half-century since March 2019.
The popular Perth-born star has passed 30 on just five occasions inside that same time period, while remaining not-out on just three occasions.
Stoinis has also been underwhelming in the current Big Bash campaign, scoring 119 runs at 23.80 and taking just one wicket for the Melbourne Stars.
On the contrary, Short sits atop the run-scoring leaderboard with an incredible 396 runs in seven matches and Hardie is placed third on the list with 273 runs, with both men making their international debuts last year prior to the World Cup.
While he has been a central figure of the country’s white-ball teams for the past half-decade, the right-hander is now facing an uncertain future and given his age compared to the emerging talents named in the latest ODI squad, it could be curtains for Stoinis’ time in Australian colours.
Despite the unlikely nature of an Australian recall given a range of contributing factors, chief selector George Bailey told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that the door will remain open for Stoinis moving forward.
“Stoin has missed out on selection in this squad, but by no means is that a line through his name,” he said.
“We know what he can do at his best and how important he can be with both bat and ball in one-day cricket. The door is certainly not closed for him.
“The squad we had in India was 16-man, it’s a home squad [against West Indies] so we’ve only got 13. There’s a number of players who are missing out.”
Ashton Agar was also overlooked for the extended squad, while the Test quartet of Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have been rested.
“Further opportunities for the likes of Aaron Hardie, Matt Short, Jhye Richardson, and Nathan Ellis will be valuable both to our ongoing improvement as a team and also further their personal experiences in ODI cricket,” national selector George Bailey said.
“The squad strikes a balance between players continuing to make their mark on international cricket, playing alongside some of our most experienced players with an eye to the future in this format.”
Australia ODI squad vs West Indies
Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Matt Short, Adam Zampa
