'There are absolutely no excuses' - Marcus Stoinis opens up on his homophobic slur at Kane Richardson

Australia and Melbourne Stars all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has been in the news for a variety of reasons. Stoinis, who finished as the leading run-scorer in the recently concluded Big Bash League (BBL), came under scrutiny for a homophobic hurl at fast bowler Kane Richardson during one of the matches.

The incident took place during Melbourne Stars game against the Melbourne Renegades on January 4. Stoinis was subsequently charged with $AU 7500 for breaching level 2 of the Australian Code of Conduct. It has been over a month since that incident took place but Stoinis is yet to get over it.

“There are absolutely no excuses. I mean he’s a good mate, and he over the last couple of games we’ve played I think he’s wound me up a few times, [but] it’s absolutely no excuse to use words like that. And that’s what he was trying to do. He was trying to get a reaction out of me and that sort of thing and unfortunately, I took that bait and went too far and that’s not acceptable” Stoinis said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

‘It’s not how I was raised’ – Marcus Stoinis

Kane Richardson had revealed that he hadn’t seen Marcus Stoinis as angry as he was that day. The latter said that he spoke to Richardson post the incident but more than that it is his inner guilt that has bothered him since then. He echoed that he is not the type of person to hurl such abuses as it’s not the way he was raised. Stoinis hopes that other people will learn from their mistakes.

“I’ve spoken to Kane but then even more than that, I think it’s not the type of person I am. It’s not who I want to be and I understand it’s out of line. It’s not how I was raised. And I’m not proud of it, but I guess I’ve just gonna cop that on the chin and, and roll with it now. And also, look, hopefully, other people learn from my mistake.

“And unfortunately, that’s all we can do. I guess you can’t take anything back. You’ve just got to show it by your actions from going forward.”  he added.

‘This incident was different’ – Kane Richardson

However, Richardson feels it was completely normal for Stoinis and him to have a few words on the field. They have played a lot of cricket together and have often sparred verbally in domestic cricket. He, however, admitted that this was different.

“We always talk, we’re both competitors. It was just a bit of harmless banter about what was going on on the field and the way he goes about it. I always want to have a chat with him about that. It was just a harmless cricket chat. For some reason, he reacted the way he did. You would have to ask him why; it was really out of character. He looked angrier than I have ever seen him. I’m not sure what he was thinking. The learning has to be that it never happens again.” the pace bowler said.

He also went on to reveal that Stoinis contacted him via Whatsapp the next day, and while he was not personally offended, he reiterated the words of Justin Langer that hurling such slurs was unacceptable. “Yeah, a little WhatsApp the morning after, but not a whole lot of conversation about it. He realized he made a mistake. I could just tell by his body language for the rest of his innings that night that he knew he made a mistake.

“I didn’t need an apology for myself, he didn’t offend me. It’s what he said that offended so many people. It was more just his actions and everyone’s actions, we can’t afford to have that happen again.” Richardson added.