Brisbane Heat pull out of Stoinis deal

Brisbane Heat have pulled out of a proposed deal to sign up Australia allrounder Marcus Stoinis, who has turned out for Melbourne Stars since 2013. The franchise's statement meant Stoinis will not line up with Chris Lynn and Brendon McCullum in an imposing batting roster. Last week the Heat had made a lucrative deal believed to be worth about AUD 200,000 (USD156,000 approx) a season. The side was believed to have room in its salary cap that the Stars lacked.

"We touched base with Marcus and put together what we felt was an attractive offer,"Heat General Manager Andrew McShea was quoted as saying to Cricket Australia's website. "However, that offer is no longer on the table."

The news is likely to come as a relief to the Stars, who not only finished at the bottom of the table this season but also lost Kevin Pietersen, Luke Wright and Rob Quiney. According to Cricket Australia's website, the Stars are understood to resume negotiations with Stoinis upon his return from New Zealand following the Trans-Tasman T20 series final on Wednesday. There is also speculation that Perth Scorchers might be interested in Stoinis, who had moved back to Perth last winter.

Stoinis, 28, is part of Australia's ODI and Twenty 20 squads, and is also seen as the back-up to Mitchell Marsh for the all-rounder's spot in the Test squad, despite his struggles in the Sheffield Shield over the last two years. He was also retained in the IPL this year by King's XI Punjab for USD 1.2 million approx. Stoinis was one of the Stars' few bright spots this season, as he scored 179 runs from five innings at a strike-rate of 144.35, which was second only to Glenn Maxwell's 154.12. In all, Stoinis has scored 493 runs in 28 games for the Stars at a strike-rate of 120.24 and has taken 19 wickets at an economy-rate of 8.5.