Maxwell reins in talk of 'horses for courses'

Now that he’s hit the regained ground running as an Australia limited-overs cricketer, Glenn Maxwell is almost certain to be cast as one of those 'horses' set for the next Test meeting on the subcontinent course in India next February and March.

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But Maxwell, who during his T20 innings of 145no last night delivered an indelible reminder of the batting intent and innovations that have been identified as essential to reversing Australia’s Test woes in Asia, doesn’t want to be labelled as suitable only for use on dry, slow pitches.

And given that an overwhelming majority of his first-class scores have been scored in Australia and England, Maxwell believes that if he is going to be considered for a recall to the Test line-up it would make sense if he was considered for that role at home and not just exclusively for matches played away.

Specifically in Asia where the 27-year-old has made all three of his appearances in the Baggy Green Cap to date – two in India on the disastrous 2013 tour and another one during the equally unproductive series against Pakistan in the UAE the following year.

In the wake of Australia’s humbling 3-0 loss to Sri Lanka earlier in the current tour, discussion began about the need to consider selecting players with a natural capacity to adapt to Asian conditions if their winless Test streak stretching back over five years is to be snapped.

Maxwell’s name was among those attached to that debate, largely because his ability to improvise and find scoring options against spin bowlers operating in conducive home conditions was cited as the sort of game plan needed to reverse Australia’s abject recent Test record on the subcontinent.

As his innings last night – off 65 balls with 14 boundaries and nine sixes - so eloquently argued.

But rather than ride the wave of opinion that says selection philosophy must drastically change if Asian fortunes are to be similarly overhauled, Maxwell pointed out that regular runs in limited-overs matches on subcontinental pitches will not automatically translate into the five-day Test format.

"I’d like to think on the back of my four-day form in Australia, I don’t think it should matter where my Tests are played," Maxwell said in the wake of Australia’s thumping 85-run win in the first T20 against Sri Lanka when asked if he now saw himself in the frame for next year’s India tour.

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"I wouldn’t like to be pigeon-holed as a subcontinent specialist.

"I know how difficult it is, having been a part of the (UAE) series, the Test series we played against Pakistan, and the India Test series in 2013.

"I know how tough it is when you come over here (Asia) in Test-match cricket.

"To score runs in one-day cricket against a white ball in the subcontinent is totally different to facing a red ball when you’ve got three guys around the bat, five guys on the fence and they’re able just to plug away all day.

"It doesn’t matter how many reverse sweeps for four you hit, they’re still going to be around the bat.

"As soon as you try to defend one, one will blow up off the wicket and take your gloves and you’re out.

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"I know people go ‘he’s made runs in subcontinent conditions in the one-day form, surely he can play in the red-ball form over there?'.

"But it’s not the same.

"All my red-ball runs have been made in either England or Australia.

"So on the back of that, I’d like to be picked (for Test cricket) in Australia."

Maxwell also conceded that while he was disappointed to lose his place in Australia’s ODI set-up following a lean tri-series in the Caribbean last June, he understood that his performances – six single-figure scores from seven innings prior to his axing – warranted that harsh call.

But it was being overlooked for the three-Test tour to Sri Lanka that followed that tournament that stung the most, such is his eagerness to regain his place in the Test XI.

The fact that he was named for the proposed 2015 Test tour to Bangladesh that was ultimately postponed due to security concerns led Maxwell to believe that he might once again be in the frame when selectors were looking at spin-bowling allrounders for subcontinent Tests.

But the squad chosen for Sri Lanka contained a pair of seam-bowling allrounders (Mitchell Marsh and Moises Henriques) and a couple of specialist spinners, Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe.

Then, when O’Keefe strained a hamstring in the opening Test and had to be replaced, Maxwell’s fellow Victorian Jon Holland was added to the squad while Maxwell was left to try and regain form and favour playing for an Australia A team in one-day and four-day matches in northern Queensland.

During which he struggled to find touch and focus.

"It hasn’t been all smooth sailing,” Maxwell said of a year that began with him being crowned Australia’s One-Day Player of the Year in January.

"It started off really well then I had a bit of a lull through the end of January and start of February.

"I came back really well in the South Africa T20 series and I felt like I did my job well in the T20 World Cup (in India) where I was asked to control from the 11th to the 17th or 18th over, to really provide some drive.

"The West Indies (tour) was really disappointing, I was a bit out of luck there.

"I just couldn’t get a break through that.

"And then to not be on the Sri Lankan Test tour probably hurt the most out of anything.

"I thought 2016 was going to be my year to break open world cricket.

"Then to just drop off completely in the one-day format was really disappointing.

"That New Zealand series (of ODIs last February where he scored six runs in three matches including three ducks) really hurt me a lot.

"And to probably do quite pitifully by my standards in the ‘A’ series (in Queensland) all the way through.

"I think tonight I beat my total runs scored in the four-dayers and one-dayers (for Australia A) all up, which is just an indication of how badly I went.

"I hold pretty high standards for myself.

"When I do play that level, I expect to dominate it, I expect to score a lot of runs.

"But it was pretty average."