Stoinis was reprimanded by Cricket Australia after he was found guilty of breaching Article 2.1.3 of the board’s Code of Conduct, ‘for personal abuse of a player,’ and was charged with a level 2 offence. The incident occurred when Stoinis was batting for Melbourne Stars against Melbourne Renegades, at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium.

Stoinis, who had to cough up $7,500 in fine, ‘apologised unreservedly’ for the slur, which, according to 7news.com.au, was confirmed to be of homophobic tone by Cricket Australia. The incident was reported by on-field umpires Gerard Abood and Phillip Gillespie, who had a discussion with both Stoinis and Richardson, as well as Renegades skipper Aaron Finch at the end of the game.

The thoughts of everyone at tonight’s @BBL match are with those who have been impacted by the devastating bushfires across Victoria and the country. If you’re able, please donate to the Australian Red Cross Disaster & Recovery Fund. Visit:https://t.co/H4pIHEVcTY pic.twitter.com/00XKk00z9S

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“I got caught in the moment and took it too far,” Stoinis was quoted as saying in a press release. “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.”

It is the second instance in the last two months that a top-level Australian player has been found guilty of directing a homophobic slur – in November, James Pattinson was forced to sit out for one Test during the Pakistan series, after admitting to having engaged in the use of offensive language during a Sheffield Shield game.

Marcus Stoinis hit HARD by this Riley Meredith delivery 😯 He says he's okay, and will bat on #BBL09 pic.twitter.com/GI3putARCC

— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 30, 2019

Australia Test opener Simon Katich felt that the extent of punishment wasn’t sufficient – while Pattinson was suspended for one game, Stoinis was let go with just a fine.

“I’m not sure a financial punishment is the right way of going about it, given that we’ve had a couple of incidents of this throughout the summer,” Katich stated on Sen1116, after CA fined Stoinis.

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“It’s something that I think they’d be pretty keen to stamp out and I’m not sure a financial penalty in this day and age when the players are very well looked after is that significant.

“If you really want to plant your flag – especially in the BBL – and we’ve heard Kevin Roberts talk about how family-friendly that is, how they won’t take a gambling sponsor as a result. Plant your flag [and say] this doesn’t match.”