Marcus Stoinis Named Melbourne Stars’ Permanent Captain for BBL 14

Melbourne Stars have announced that Marcus Stoinis will take over as the team’s permanent captain, succeeding Glenn Maxwell, who stepped down from the role at the end of the previous season. Stoinis, an allrounder and a long-term player for the Stars, will be the club’s seventh full-time skipper.

Stoinis, who had the opportunity to captain the team in Maxwell’s absence last season, expressed his gratitude for the new responsibility. “I had a little bit of a taste of captaining the side in ‘Maxi’s’ absence last year and loved the opportunity, so to be given the role full time is a great honour,” said Stoinis.

He added, “The Stars have been such a constant in my life every summer for the last 10 years and I truly believe with the group we have assembled this season both on and off the field, we can bring some long overdue success to the club.”

Maxwell, who took over the captaincy of the Stars ahead of the 2018-19 season, led the team to two finals, where they finished as runners-up on both occasions. Despite a late slump last season that prevented the Stars from reaching the playoffs, Maxwell’s leadership has been pivotal over the last five seasons, including a season off due to injury. Maxwell has played the most matches for the team (103) and captained the most (65).

Stoinis, too, has been a key figure for the Stars, just two appearances away from becoming only the second player to feature in 100 games for the club. Having signed a three-year extension at the end of last season, Stoinis is also the team’s all-time leading run-scorer with 2,656 runs.

Stars general manager Blair Crouch acknowledged Maxwell’s contributions, saying, “I want to acknowledge and thank Maxwell for all his efforts in leading the side over the past five seasons, and he will continue to be a wonderful resource for everyone at the club.”

Crouch further praised Stoinis for his leadership qualities, saying, “Marcus demonstrated his leadership ability last year and has been a part of our leadership for a long time. It’s wonderful to have someone who has been at the Stars almost from our inception lead our club in BBL|14.”

Stoinis will begin his tenure as full-time captain with the season opener against Perth Scorchers on December 15 at the Scorchers’ home ground.