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'He had all the TVs turned on': Marcus Stoinis's touching story of how his father watched him score 146 against NZ
Marcus Stoinis may have hit a whopping 11 sixes from his remarkable unbeaten century in just his second ODI but the standout memory for him is the story he heard of how his father, who was battling cancer, watched that innings.
Marcus Stoinis may have announced himself in international cricket with one of the most remarkable ODI knocks of the previous decade but the Australia all-rounder himself said that he doesn't think about it too much. What stands out for him from that knock more than anything is a memory of how he was told his father watched him play at the time.
"I honestly don't think about it too much. I do have one very nice memory of it. Obviously from playing but about three years ago, I got a letter written to me from a lady that was going through cancer treatment at the same time as my dad," Stoinis told Cricbuzz.
"Dad was actually getting chemo at the time, and he had the TVs turned on to watch the game and in the letter she, sort of, said to me that she remembers watching it and there was a guy there who was my dad that was getting all the TVs changed to the cricket channel, and she remembers watching him and his reactions and not really understanding why it meant so much to him. She thought maybe he was just a big cricket fan. And I remember speaking to him after that game."
The innings had come in Australia's first ODI against New Zealand in Auckland, which was only Stoinis' second ODI appearance. New Zealand had scored 286/9. Australia then had a horrific run with the bat and were reduced to 67/6 in the 19th over. Stoinis then almost single handedly turned the game around, putting up a partnership of 81 runs with James Faulkner for the seventh wicket and then a stand of 48 runs with Pat Cummins for the eighth. He was increasingly belligerent as he started running out of partners, smashing 25 runs in just nine balls in his 30-run stand with Mitchell Starc for the ninth wicket and then taking all of the strike with No.11 Josh Hazlewood at the other end and scoring 48 runs in 24 balls.
Stoinis hit back to back sixes in the 47th over to bring up the 50-run partnership with Hazlewood not even having faced a ball. However, Hazlewood was run out off the last ball of that over, thus leaving Stoinis unbeaten on 146 off 117 balls and Australia six runs from victory.
He hit nine fours and a whopping 11 sixes but for Stoinis, it is the story of his father that remains the biggest memory of that game.
"To me, that stuff is the biggest memory of that game. I don't know about other cricketers, but you don't really indulge too much. I haven't really watched it or haven't really thought about it too much other than it gave me a nice memory with my dad and which my family can enjoy from being there.
"But I do understand that it definitely put my name out there and gave me opportunities, probably helped get me picked up in the IPL, it gave me a bit more longevity for Cricket Australia to identify me as someone with this talent. But, you move pretty quickly. You move on to the next thing and your life gets very busy, and you keep playing cricket and you probably don't reflect back on it too much," he said.
