I Loved Being A Part Of Test Cricket, And I Loved The Thought Of Playing Again – Glenn Maxwell

Star Australia National Cricket Team batting all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who is one of the most valuable players of the Australian team in limited-overs cricket, is still hungry to make a comeback to Test cricket and succeed.

The 33-year-old has played just 7 Tests for Australia National Cricket Team and has scored 339 runs at an average of 26.07, including one century. He last played a Test game in 2017 against Bangladesh and his last first-class game came in 2019.

ICC Teams  Rankings | ICC Players Rankings

Recently, Glenn Maxwell received a surprise Test call-up for the series against Sri Lanka as a cover for the injured Travis Head, after not being picked up initially. However, he didn’t get a chance to play in the first Test after Head recovered in time and played the game.

Also, ahead of the second Test game, Australian skipper Pat Cummins had said that Glenn Maxwell was in line to play the match at the No.8 position in place of left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc if the pitch was the same as the first Test, but the pitch was different and Maxwell missed out on the second game as well.

Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell has said that he was shattered when he was informed that he was not going to play the second match of the Test series against Sri Lanka. He added that he was “genuinely disappointed”.

“I was shattered when I got told,” Maxwell was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo about his exclusion from the second Test. “It wasn’t that I thought they made the wrong call, I was just genuinely disappointed. I really wanted to play. I loved being a part of it [Test cricket], and I loved the thought of playing again.

“Even not thinking about Test cricket for a couple of years, I felt like I was ready again. I loved working with the coaches and coming up with new tactics to deal with difficult spin bowling and balls exploding.

“I’m glad Heady got through his fitness test because I’d have hated to be in because of an injury to one of your players. Unfortunately, they changed the conditions. If it was the same conditions for both Tests, I probably would have played. But they made a slightly better wicket, and the selectors made the right call.

“I tried not to get too excited or get my hopes up too much because I know, having been in that situation so many times and been on the wrong side of it, the ups and downs of selection and the 50-50 calls … but yeah, I allowed myself to get a little bit too excited.”

It’s certainly nice to have support – Glenn Maxwell

The 33-year-old Glenn Maxwell further said that he felt nice to get support from the team management, which he didn’t get in the early days of his Test career.

“It’s certainly nice to have support, where I feel like I probably didn’t have that in the early days of my Test career,” Maxwell said. 

“It was probably the other way around, where it was just like, no, can’t have this guy in the team. So it’s sort of nice to see it change. When I came back into the side in 2017, it felt like there was a real shift of positivity coming my way, which was rare.

“For so long, whenever I played a reverse sweep, it was frowned upon and it’s become a staple of Test cricket wherever you play in the world. Everyone plays it.

“So it’s like, where was this six years ago? It would have been nice when I was playing, if people would have looked at me and gone, oh, visionary [laughs]. Uzzie [Usman Khawaja] plays 300 of them, and he’s a superstar, [he] gets 150 and like, [we] bow down to him.”

Travis Head, who had a terrific Ashes run earlier this year, failed to perform well on the tour of Pakistan and Sri Lanka and registered his highest score of 26 in five Tests. Head’s struggle for runs in Asia could lead to Maxwell taking his spot in the Test team for the tour of India in 2023.

Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell also revealed that the Cricket Australia (CA) selectors have asked him about specific preparation that would be best for him ahead of the tour of India in 2023.

“They sort of just asked what do you need to get ready and would Shield cricket make a difference? I said no, it won’t,” Maxwell said.

“Because the conditions are just so different over there. It’s certainly hard to prepare for spinning tracks in Australia during our first-class games.

“I think we’re able to still get nets up in Melbourne that can spin and do some different things. Last year I had a pre-season at Junction Oval, where we would use the same pitches, maybe four or five net sessions in a row and by the fifth net session they were basically India. And it was awesome. They were the best net sessions I had. Because I was going away, I think at that stage, the next subcontinent tour, it might have been the IPL and it was awesome. It was the perfect prep, and I had no excuses, I suppose, going into the next series.”

Also Read: 15 Australian Players Offered Big UAE T20 League Contracts To Abandon Big Bash League (BBL) – Reports

Get All Cricket match prediction and fantasy Tips – CLICK HERE

Cricket Match Prediction | T20 World Cup Match Prediction | Today Match Fantasy Prediction | Fantasy Cricket Tips | Cricket News and Updates | Cricket Live Score