Maxwell to remain with Yorkshire for winter

Glenn Maxwell will remain with Yorkshire for the county championship season to replace injured Australia teammate Aaron Finch, who has a fractured foot.

Maxwell will have the opportunity to spend the winter playing red ball cricket as well as the limited overs formats for the reigning county champions, but will now miss the Australia A tour to India.

Maxwell has been replaced in the Australia A squad by South Australia batsman Callum Ferguson, who showed impressive form in hitting a century for the Aus A team in a 50-over game against the National Indigenous Squad at the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane this week.

National Selector Rod Marsh, who is in London with the Australian Test squad, said the opportunity for Maxwell to remain with Yorkshire was too good to pass up.

"Callum Ferguson has shown he has the capacity to bat for extended periods of time and we feel he will benefit from testing his batting skills in sub-continental conditions," Marsh said.

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Ferguson scored a ton against the NIS this week // Getty Images

"Glenn Maxwell will remain with his UK county club Yorkshire, which is a great opportunity to acclimatise to English conditions ahead of Australia's upcoming limited overs series after the Ashes."

Ferguson, who was already in the one-day squad for the Australia A tour of India, will now be available for the two four-day matches in Chennai.

Maxwell had been on a T20-only contract with Yorkshire, but Finch's unlucky run with injuries since the World Cup has resulted in greater opportunity for his former housemate and close friend.

Finch pulled a hamstring running a single for Indian Premier League outfit Mumbai Indians in April, which required surgery. It was his first injury in cricket.

On his return with Yorkshire, he was struck in the chest while batting during a second XI game and was sent to hospital for precautionary scans after coughing up blood.

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Finch has had a difficult run with injuries since the World Cup // Getty Images

Concern over a bruised lung was quickly allayed and Finch resumed his winter engagement until a stress fracture in his foot picked up in a match against Derbyshire.

In two matches with Yorkshire's county championship squad, Maxwell has scored 25 runs – including an unbeaten 23 in his last innings that guided Yorkshire to a four-wicket win over a Middlesex side featuring Queensland's Joe Burns. Finch had scored 111 runs in three innings before the latest injury setback.

Maxwell recently made headlines during a charity match for Yorkshire after taking a one-handed boundary-line catch while holding an ice cream cone in the other hand.

Australia A four-day squad: Usman Khawaja (capt, QLD), Matthew Wade (vc, VIC), Sean Abbott (NSW), Ashton Agar (WA), Cameron Bancroft (WA), Joe Burns (QLD), Andrew Fekete (TAS), Callum Ferguson (SA), Peter Handscomb (VIC), Travis Head (SA), Nic Maddinson (NSW), Stephen O'Keefe (NSW), Gurinder Sandhu (NSW), Marcus Stoinis (VIC)

Australia A one-day squad: Usman Khawaja (capt, QLD), Matthew Wade (vc, VIC), Sean Abbott (NSW), Ashton Agar (WA), Cameron Boyce (QLD), Joe Burns (QLD), Nathan Coulter-Nile (WA), Callum Ferguson (SA), Peter Handscomb (VIC), Travis Head (SA), Chris Lynn (QLD), James Pattinson (VIC), Gurinder Sandhu (NSW), Adam Zampa (SA). Stand-by: Andrew Fekete (TAS)

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