Maxwell has not played a Test match since 2017. He played his last first-class match in 2019. Although Maxwell was included in the team as a back-up when Travis Head was injured during the recent Sri Lanka series, he did not get a chance to be part of the team in any match.
Maxwell could have played the first Test against Sri Lanka, but Travis Head passed his fitness test, which led to him being selected for the first Test. Australian captain Pat Cummins had also said that if the pitch of the second Test match was the same as the first Test match, then we could have given Maxwell a chance at number eight. However, this did not happen and the pitch of the second Test match was excellent for batting and Maxwell was not included in the team.
Glenn Maxwell said of his exit from the second Test, “I was blown away when I was told about it. Although I didn’t feel like the selectors had made the wrong decision, I was actually quite disappointed. I just wanted to play that match.”
He further said, “Even for two years I was not thinking much about Test cricket but this time I felt that I am ready for this format again. I really enjoyed working with the coaches. I also really liked the idea of batting with a new strategy for bowling difficult spin. I was happy that Headey (Travis Head) passed his fitness test because I don’t like to replace a player with an injury. Unfortunately, the pitch conditions in the second Test were not the same as in the first Test. Had it not been so, I might have got a place in the team. But the ground staff at Galle had made a better pitch in the second Test. According to these circumstances, the selectors took the right decision.”
“I tried not to get too excited or raise my hopes too high because I know I’ve been in those situations many times. I’ve had a great experience of the ups and downs of a 50-50 decision or selection.”
Maxwell is now firmly set to play in the four-Test series against India next year. One of the reasons for this is that Head has scored the highest score of 26 runs in the five Test matches of the tour of Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Head now averages only 21.30 in seven Tests in Asia and has crossed 50 runs only once. Maxwell has played all his seven Tests in Asia and averages just 26.07 there. However, he scored a scintillating century on India’s last Test tour of Australia in 2017 in Ranchi.
The balance between right and left handed batsmen is going to be very important in Australia’s top seven batsmen. The biggest reason for this is the spin attack of the Indian team, which includes Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and R Ashwin.
In red and white ball cricket, Maxwell has ample experience facing all three in India. This undoubtedly gives them an advantage from the point of view of selection. He has also revealed that the Australian selectors have spoken to him about what special preparation would be best for him ahead of the India tour.
To this Glenn Maxwell said, “All they asked was what do you need to get ready and will Shield cricket make a difference? I said no, that won’t be enough. Because the conditions there are totally different. Our first in Australia It’s definitely tough to prepare for the spinning track during category matches. I think we can practice in Melbourne. There the ball spins a bit. Last year I had a pre-season at Junction Oval. There we were the same Used to use pitches. After four or five net sessions, those pitches become like Indian pitches.”