Stoinis fined for personal abuse in BBL

Melbourne: Marcus Stoinis has been fined $5,000 for directing personal abuse at Australia teammate Kane Richardson during their Big Bash League T20 match here. Stoinis apologised “unreservedly” for the abuse during the Melbourne derby between the Stars and Renegades teams.

“I got caught in the moment and took it too far,” the Melbourne Stars batsman said in a statement. “I realised immediately I was in the wrong and I apologise to Kane and to the umpires. I did the wrong thing and accept responsibility for my actions. The standards are there for a reason and I accept the penalty,” he added.

Stoinis is the top-scorer in this year’s Big Bash League with 281 runs but was dropped from the Australia squad for this month’s ODI series in India.

Crackdown

Australia fast bowler James Pattinson missed the first Test of the home season against Pakistan in November for personal abuse of an opponent while playing for Victoria in a Sheffield Shield match. He received the one-match suspension because it was his third breach of the code of conduct inside 12 months. Cricket Australia has cracked down on bad behaviour by its players since the ball-tampering scandal in 2018. — Reuters