'I Think Maxwell's Handling Himself Really, Really Well' - Andrew McDonald

Former Australia bowler and Victoria’s coach Andrew McDonald has praised Glenn Maxwell for his response on being omitted from Australia’s limited overs squad, and he feels Maxwell is “handling (his axing) really, really well”. 

Maxwell was being pitted as the favourite to replace Chris Lynn in the squad, but the Australian selectors opted for Cameron White instead. White was picked by the selector’s courtesy his prolific run scoring in the domestic 50-over competition this season.

Glenn Maxwell’s omission from the side has been a hot topic, and many cricket pundits have expressed their views on the right-handed batsman technique and inconsistency with the bat.

Maxwell has been dropped on the back of some disappointing performances in international cricket, as he averages 27.2 in the last ten innings (career average 32.3) and has been one of the weak links in the Australian batting line up. McDonald told RSN927,

“He’s understanding of the fact he’s just got to go back and post some runs and get some consistent big scores. Which is what he’s done in the Sheffield Shield (but) the unfortunate thing with the white ball is the 50-over competition is at the start of the (season) in a block, so there’s no opportunity for him to go and do that in the 50-over game at the moment.”

“But I think he’s handling himself really, really well and he knows that runs will be his currency to get himself back in there, and plenty of them.” 

After being dropped from the 14-man squad, skipper Steven Smith said Maxwell needs to train “a little bit smarter”, but McDonald believes there’s nothing wrong with his training methods. He said,

“I can’t question Maxi in any dimensions of his game this year, including and in particular his preparations. He’s been outstanding in the way he prepared for Bangladesh, second to none for the Test series there, albeit in the indoor centre which is nothing like it was going to be in Dhaka. But he prepared himself well with left-arm orthodox and all the challenges that were going to come up for him there.”

“His Shield preparation has been outstanding as well, and you wouldn’t get the results that he’s getting without fantastic preparation. And that’s the key for any athlete, to prepare yourself for what may happen in the upcoming event and then go out and execute. He’s done that in Shield cricket, and he’s starting to get a bit of form in the Big Bash as well. I’m sure if Australia calls upon him, he’ll be up for the task.”

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