Aussies drop ODI squad bombshell

Australia’s selection chairman Rod Marsh has issued a blunt message to axed one-day allrounder Glenn Maxwell – if you can show us you’re capable of consistently making runs and taking wickets there is a place for you in our best white ball XI.

Maxwell, Australian cricket’s reigning ODI Player of the Year, was the headline omission from the 15-man squad named today for the five one-day internationals that will follow the current three-Test series as part of the Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka.

Australia ODI squad for the Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), George Bailey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa

"Obviously I'm disappointed to miss out on the squad but I've had some good chats to (selectors) Rod (Marsh) and Trevor (Hohns),” Maxwell told cricket.com.au. 

"I got some really honest feedback which was good to hear but there are also things I need to work on.

"It is hard; I'm going to be watching on TV and seeing Australia play in coloured clothing and I'm not going to be there, but it's one of those things where it'll probably only drive me to train harder and make sure I'm there for the next tour.

"There's plenty of positives. Lots of players miss out on squads and get dropped at different times, and you see their character shine through – I'm hoping I can show mine and get back in that squad and show that I deserve to be there."

The 27-year-old will instead spend the next few weeks searching for form with the Australia A team in its current series of four-day matches against A teams from South Africa and India as well as a quadrangular limited-overs tournament that will also feature the National Performance Squad.

A quest that began poorly yesterday when Maxwell, added to the Australia A team a day earlier after left-arm spinner Jon Holland was drafted into the Test squad as a replacement for injured Steve O’Keefe, was dismissed for a duck by uncapped South Africa A seamer Sisanda Magala, though his caught-and-bowled effort on day two of the ‘A’ contest in Brisbane was a rather spectacular consolation.

Since scoring 96 from 83 balls to steer Australia to victory over India in an ODI at the MCG last January, Maxwell has compiled just 59 runs from 54 balls faced in seven innings (including one unbeaten) at an average of 9.83.

He was dropped from the starting XI during the recent ODI tri-series featuring the West Indies and South Africa in the Caribbean, but returned to the team to steer Australia home with an unbeaten 46 in the penultimate game to earn them a place in the final.

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However, Marsh said in Kandy today that while Maxwell’s brilliant fielding and useful off-spin bowling made him an attractive package in limited-overs cricket, his primary job specification was to score runs.

And he had clearly not been doing so in the lead-up to the five-match ODI Series against Sri Lanka that begins in Colombo on August 21.

"If you want to play cricket for Australia, you should be consistent,” Marsh said today.

"If you are batsman, you should get consistent runs.

"If you are a bowler, you should get consistent wickets, or bowl well.

"Glenn has too many games where he doesn't contribute with the bat.

"He is averaging less than 10 runs in Australia’s last 10 one-day internationals so the numbers speak for themselves.

"As far as I am concerned, he has had a lot of chances.

"It got to that stage - we couldn't go on any longer.

"He is a hell of a good fieldsman, as we know, he is a handy bowler, and, at his best, he is one of our first picked in a one-day team.

"But if he is not making runs, then we have got to find a solution to it.

"The solution we have come up with is to put him back a step or two and see if he can get some runs there (for the Australia A team) on a consistent basis.

"When you have got as much talent as that, you should be able to play all forms."

It’s not the first time that Maxwell, who has played 67 ODIs, 34 T20 Internationals and three Tests for Australia since earning his international call-up in 2012, had been placed on notice.

After he threw away his wicket at a crucial point of an ODI against England in 2014, coach Darren Lehmann took aim at the mercurial right-hander and publicly advised him that he needed to "understand the game better".

Maxwell has previously spoken about the spur he has received from that and other critiques of his playing style, and looked to have found the consistency and maturity expected of him when he posted his maiden ODI century in a vital World Cup match against Sri Lanka last year.

An innings that was pivotal in him being crowned ODI Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal presentation in Melbourne six months ago.

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And Marsh indicated today that while Maxwell was clearly disappointed by the news he was not part of the squad for Sri Lanka, he had taken the latest setback on the chin and accepted the challenge that has been put in front of him.

"I thought he was terrific," Marsh said when asked how Maxwell had received news of his omission.

"He took it as well as what could be expected.

"No-one likes being dropped but he understood the reasons and he also understands what he has got to do.

"Maxi at his best is one of our best."

Maxwell has a chance to return to Australian colours in the two T20 Internationals in Sri Lanka that follow the ODI Series, or the subsequent ODI tour to South Africa should form (or other fitness concerns) pave the way for a call-up.

Despite being played in subcontinental conditions, the ODI squad contains only two specialist spinners – Test off-spinner Nathan Lyon and South Australian leg spinner Adam Zampa.

The other changes to the 16-man squad that won the ODI tri-series in the Caribbean are the inclusion of batsman Shaun Marsh, who missed that campaign due to the birth of his first child, as well as Test squad allrounder Moises Henriques.

Image Id: ~/media/C470F37DF6B64892B7B01D831618F93F Image Caption: Moises Henriques has earned a call-up // Getty Images

Marsh replaces South Australian batsman Travis Head who made his ODI debut in the West Indies and is currently playing for Yorkshire in the UK county competition where he blasted 175 in a recent 50-over game, and Victorian seamer Scott Boland who misses out due to the reduced size of the squad.

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Henriques has played just six ODIs since making his international debut against India at Delhi in 2009, the most recent of those coming against England on the eve of Australia’s successful World Cup campaign in Hobart last year.

And although he is one of three seam-bowling all-rounders in the squad for the Sri Lanka series – along with Mitchell Marsh and James Faulkner – the selectors believe he is ready to assert himself in that role if his opportunity arises.

"I hope he gets a game," Rod Marsh said of Henriques who endured a horror run with injuries of late including a serious facial fracture while playing in England and a calf tear that ended his KFC Big Bash League season with the Sydney Sixers.

"He's been training the house down, really fit and I just hope his bad luck with injuries finishes."

Australia ODI squad for the Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), George Bailey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa