“There may be an SOS to Glenn Maxwell, just back from a broken leg, who is due to be named for the one-day series after the Tests but could come earlier. ”
This was Geoff Lemon – one of Australia’s leading cricket journalists – in his Guardian Australia column on 21 February.
Fresh from a Test match that lasted less time than a direct flight from Perth to London, Lemon suggested Australian selectors may be inclined to pick a player who had recently played his first Sheffield Shield game in three years and ask him to play in the hardest red-ball conditions in world cricket.
Surely one needs to ask: why?
Maxwell’s last first-class century was at the back end of 2017, an aggressive 278 for Victoria on the admittedly postage-stamp-sized ground of North Sydney Oval. Since then, his appearances in white clothing have been fleeting, often due to his commitments in the shorter forms of the game, as well as a horrific broken leg at the back end of 2022.
Multiple IPL centuries and an international T20 strike rate of over 150 has made him one of the most sought-after players on the T20 circuit and few could argue that he has been at his best in that format.
(Photo by Chris Hyde – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
This does not necessarily require him to be picked in Test cricket, however.
Take, for example, all seven of his previous Test matches, which have come in spinning conditions: in the UAE, Bangladesh, and India; where he made his debut in 2013 and scored his only Test hundred in 2017.
It has been argued that these are the conditions he prospers in and should make him a mainstay of the red-ball side whenever they tour this region. However, despite this one century, and an apparent expertise in this environment, he nevertheless averages only 26 from 14 innings.
He appeared in Country Cricket in 2018, ostensibly as preparation for the Australia tour of the UAE later that year, but didn’t hide his frustration at not being included in both that tour and the ‘A’ games that simultaneously happened in India, and has since been seen to focus more on white-ball cricket – something he admitted as much at the start of 2021.
Maxwell’s record is decidedly average and it isn’t improving.
His ODI strike rate has diminished to 125 in the last three years, which puts him on par with a strikingly number of good, but not phenomenal players. His first-class record shows an average of less than 40, with only seven hundreds.
If a retort to this is his lack of red-ball cricket, I am only to agree. It is this lack of first-class cricket that makes any future appearance in the baggy green both unlikely and undeserved.
Before the Sri Lankan tour last year, Maxwell argued that a lack of first-class cricket wasn’t necessarily a downside due to his consistent performances on the subcontinent during the IPL. This may be true, however, it belies a distinct lack of acceptance of the intricacies around the modern game – namely, the gap between T20, ODI and Test cricket, which has never been greater.
One would go as far as to state that the three formats are close to entirely different games. This is evidenced by England having virtually completely different teams – and coaches – in the shorter formats compared to Test cricket.
Further proof of the difficulty in switching between formats without adequate preparation is seen on the current tour of India. Ashton Agar, initially picked in the squad as a likely Test starter, was rendered unelectable due to a deluge of confidence issues.
Like Maxwell, he has been a constant in the shorter formats – both for Australia and the Perth Scorchers – at the behest of any red-ball cricket.
Any mention of Maxwell being selected is also a slap in the face to the players plying their trade in the Sheffield Shield competition, which, despite Cricket Australia pushing it further and further to the margin of the Australian summer, remains the pinnacle first-class competition from which to select Test cricketers.
Peter Handscombe was recalled in India and has performed admirably. Cameron Green, still raw, was selected after plundering more first-class centuries in his first 25 games than Maxwell has scored in his entire career.
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Cameron Green (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
This season, Cameron Bancroft has regained his form and scored four centuries, yet has barely been mentioned in the same breath as Maxwell.
This is before you mention other all-rounders who have superior records to Maxwell in recent seasons. Aaron Hardie, Matt Short and Mitch Marsh have all provided runs and wickets in the competition and should feel aggrieved if Maxwell was elevated above them.
One hopes Glenn Maxwell will remain in coloured clothing for the foreseeable future. His entertainment value is second to none. But this is where his talents should remain.
With the next test tour of the subcontinent not until 2025, when Maxwell will be approaching 37 years of age, perhaps this will be the last time we shall hear this argument.
Thank goodness.
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