Stoinis to start bowling again ahead of T20I series

Aussie T20 World Cup winning allrounder Marcus Stoinis has declared he will start bowling again in the next two weeks and he hopes to be able to play a role with the ball in the upcoming international series against Sri Lanka.

Stoinis, who was at the other end last night to see Melbourne Stars teammate Glenn Maxwell broke his record for the highest score in KFC BBL history, said bowling was "on the agenda" in his three-week break between the Big Bash and the start of the five-match Dettol T20I series.

The 32-year-old missed a number of games over the past month because of a back injury and testing positive to COVID-19 but returned to the Stars side for the final three games of the season and hit 75 not out off 31 balls in a 132-run partnership with Maxwell on Wednesday.

Stoinis, who hasn't been home since August, is hoping to return to Perth once the Western Australia border opens on February 5 to recharge ahead of the Sri Lanka series that is currently scheduled to start on February 11.

"I'll have probably 15 days in Melbourne, start bowling again, maybe a bit of golf and actually have a coffee in a cafe, do the normal things," he said last night after the Stars' win against the Hurricanes.

Stoinis, who also missed the start of BBL|11 with a side strain, said his body was feeling good now but he would have liked to have been a bit more active over the summer.

"It's just nice being involved in the game (with the ball)," he said.

"My type of character, I just like being in the game, I like having the ball, I like being in the contest.

"It's been hard, we haven't had access to too much and limited training, so it's hard when you're trying to get out of quarantine and come back and play.

"I went too hard, probably a typical Marcus Stoinis thing, I went too hard after being locked up for seven days and then get out and try and do everything 100mph and just tweaked the back a bit.

"But everything's good, I just need to get the motor going again."

Stoinis last bowled in Ausralia's second game of the T20 World Cup in late October when he delivered three overs against Sri Lanka.

He said it was bittersweet the scheduled ODI series and T20I against New Zealand had been postponed again.

"If you had of asked me two weeks ago and I was pretty tired and just sitting around in a hotel room for a long time and I hadn't been home since August, I might have given you a different answer," the right-hander said.

"Now (I'm) feeling better and fresh and getting back to normal life, I realise that I just want to keep going and playing cricket, it's a bit disappointing.

"But on the other hand, (I) understand, it’s the times were in, it's hard on New Zealand, they've been away a lot and it's hard for them to get back without quarantine.

"I'm going to love being in the Australian colours again (against Sri Lanka) and playing in Australia in front of some good crowds.

"It's been a while since we played some white-ball (international) cricket in Australia so that is very exciting."