David Warner strongly opposes Glenn Maxwell's Australia comeback

Former Australia opener David Warner has opposed all-rounder Glenn Maxwell's desire to return to Test cricket for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka early next year. David Warner said that Glenn Maxwell lacks red-ball experience in the Sheffield Shield despite showing a strong desire to play Test cricket.

Maxwell recently expressed a desire to return to the Australian Test squad for the Sri Lanka tour. However, he hasn't played a first-class match since last year. Maxwell planned to play for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield, but a hamstring injury during the recent Pakistan white-ball series has prevented him.

Glenn Maxwell Doesn’t Deserve That Opportunity - David Warner

Speaking to CODE Sports, David Warner expressed his doubts about Glenn Maxwell's potential return to the Australian Test team for the Sri Lankan tour. Warner questioned Maxwell's commitment to playing red-ball cricket. He stated that players must play four-day cricket to be in contention for Tests.

"If you’re not being picked for your Shield team, then why do you deserve it? You’ve got to actually want it, to want to play four-day cricket. Unless he’s putting his hand up, he’s playing all the club cricket stuff and all that, to want to play Test cricket, he, in my (opinion), doesn’t deserve that opportunity," David Warner said.

"I just don’t think you can keep putting your hand up to say, ‘I want to play just that.’ You know, it’s like me saying I just want to play in Australia, like you’ve gotta be seen to be wanting to do the work grind it out and do that," David Warner added.

Australia is currently competing in a five-match Test series against India at home. Following the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), they will end their 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with two Tests in Sri Lanka, starting on January 29.

My Tactics Will Be the Same - Glenn Maxwell

Earlier, Glenn Maxwell said that he was preparing for Test cricket, describing it as one of the most enjoyable times in his career. The 36-year-old emphasized that he was focusing on a solid defense and exploring scoring options in his approach to the game.

"The week or so leading up [to the Sri Lankan Tests in 2025] is probably the most fun I have ever had in practice and training, going into different conditions, working out different strategies and trying to implement them against your own teammates,” Maxwell said on the Sydney Morning Herald.

“My tactics will be exactly the same as I have played it in Tests in the past, backing my strengths and trying to have a really solid defense and backscoring options around that."

Glenn Maxwell Made His Test Debut in the 2013 BGT Series

Glenn Maxwell made his Test debut in 2013 during the Border-Gavaskar series in India. His last Test appearance was over seven years ago in 2017 during Australia's tour of Bangladesh.

Maxwell has played all seven matches against Asian teams in the away series. His best Test performance came against India in 2017, where he scored his lone Test century. Maxwell has scored 339 runs at an average of just over 26 and taken 8 wickets in Tests.

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