Thunder hope tour snub doesn't spur Stoinis to greater heights
Sydney Thunder bowler Jonathan Cook has admitted to being surprised by the snubbing of Marcus Stoinis by national selectors, particularly after the all-rounder was named Big Bash player of the season.
Mitchell Marsh was selected in Australia’s ODI and T20 squads on Tuesday ahead of Stoinis, who will instead act as a standby player for both teams for the upcoming tour to South Africa. Stoinis has not appeared for Australia since the World Cup in July 2019.
Marcus Stoinis can count himself unlucky not to make the Australian side to tour South Africa, says Thunder star Jonathan Cook.Credit:AAP
"At the moment, the Australian squad it is a really hard squad to get into in the last 12 months, since Smith and Warner have come back in," Cook said. "It takes up two spots so it's a tough squad to get into.
"[But] I think Stoinis would be disappointed not to be in it considering he has had such a good BBL season."
Cook is preparing for the do-or-die BBL finals showdown between the Melbourne Stars and the Thunder on Thursday night.
The Stars will need to dig deep to come back from a woeful performance against the Sydney Sixers on Friday night. Bowled out for only 99, Melbourne slumped to their lowest score in BBL history.
"The next 24 hours for us are huge in terms of research, and as bowlers looking at the batters and as batters looking at the bowlers to make sure that you are going to the game as prepared as possible," Cook said. "It's a little bit daunting coming up against some of the best cricketers in the world, obviously Stoinis and [Glenn] Maxwell have both had great seasons."
While the Stars have limped into the preliminary final after four successive losses, they won both their matches against the Thunder this season.
"We've already played these guys twice. So you're really using any sort of momentum or any sort of learnings from those games and trying to bring them into tomorrow's game," Cook said. "The do-or-die system for us seems to be working having that pressure, it was great to get the win down at Hobart and then Adelaide and have a few days off before another do-or-die situation."
The Sydney side has had two days to acclimatise to the conditions in Melbourne, where temperatures are much cooler.
"We just have to take it in, enjoy it, and try and not let the pressure or any fan abuse get to you."