Mark Waugh: Glenn Maxwell Should Now Focus on Becoming a Clutch T20 Player

Australia’s chief T20 selector Mark Waugh has suggested Glenn Maxwell go from One Day outcast to a clutch T20 player in the upcoming Tri-series against New Zealand and England in February. Maxwell has been included in Australia’s T20 squad after he was controversially left out of the ODI squad and Cameron White was given the green signal ahead of the Victorian batsman.

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.

Australia announced the T20 squad on Monday and had announced David Warner as the stand-in captain and the rest of the T20 squad virtually a Big Bash all-stars team. Rest of the Australian Test squad will leave for South Africa to prepare for the four-match Test series. The selectors are looking forward to building a team for the home T20 World Cup to be played in 2020. Australia are currently ranked seventh in the T20 International rankings.

Waugh said on Maxwell:

“He’s been out of the one-day team and Test team but he’s done really well for Victoria. He’s done what has been asked of him in that regard. We know he’s a fantastic T20 player so I would expect him to play a big part in our success. We need some players like that to step up and win us some games and win those pressure moments in T20 games because we haven’t had that for quite a while – we’ve been missing that ability with the bat and ball under pressure to win a game.”

This year’s Big Bash sensation D’Arcy Short has also been picked up and is all set to earn his maiden international cap in international cricket. Waugh added:

“(Short) reminds me of David Warner a bit with his clean ball-striking. He has that X-factor, he can bowl as well. He’s got good left-arm wristies as well. He’s the sort of player we want to keep coming through. We’ve got to keep regenerating our squad, he’s the type of player who can do that.” 

Australia will be looking forward to getting back to winning ways in the T20 format as they have won just won one T20I at home since the end of 2014, Waugh concluded by adding:

“The difficulty is we’ve probably got five or six players who play in all three formats, so there’s always a bit of give and take. Although this team is probably not a full strength I think it’s a great opportunity for some players to show how good they are. We’re going to need a squad, a good depth, to be a force in T20 cricket.”

Australia’s T20 squad for the T20 Tri-series:

David Warner (capt), Aaron Finch (VC), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

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