How Maxwell rekindled his love for cricket

Glenn Maxwell has made centuries in all formats for Australia, but it was a fifty in front of a smattering of spectators in suburban Melbourne two weeks ago that helped rekindle his flagging enthusiasm for the game.

"He came off and he said, 'I love cricket again'," his Fitzroy-Doncaster captain Ejaaz Alavi told cricket.com.au.

Coping with mental health issues is, of course, never that simple but Maxwell believes he has gone some way to rediscovering the joy he lost this year and found himself mentally and physically "ruined".

Maxwell will next week return to the top flight in the KFC Big Bash League after a seven-week break from international and domestic cricket in which he only played a handful of games for his Premier Cricket team.

He says he wouldn't turn down an Australian recall if it comes this summer and has put his name in for the draft for next year’s Indian Premier League, but stressed his mind is firmly on captaining the Melbourne Stars over the coming weeks.

Speaking publicly for the first time since stepping away, he explained that his recent issues stemmed from the immense pressure he puts on himself and weren’t helped by a relentless period of living out of a suitcase.

"I was pretty cooked when I decided to take the time off," said Maxwell. "I was pretty mentally and physically ruined from eight months on the road and living out of a suitcase. That had probably been going on for four or five years.

"It all caught up with me at that time.

"You go through a lot of waves of emotions and especially that first week was probably the hardest.

"As I took the time away to get myself right and speak to the right people and have that amazing support network behind me was pretty key to me being back to good health now.

"My girlfriend was the number one (support). It probably wasn't an easy job for her to deal with me going through mood swings non-stop for the first few weeks."

Despite opting against playing in last April's IPL, Maxwell barely spent a night in his own bed this year between playing for Australia in T20s and ODIs (including the World Cup in the UK) and stints with Lancashire.

Maxwell has worked with Cricket Australia psychologist Michael Lloyd, who he's known for more than a decade, and sport psychiatrist Ranjit Menon since acknowledging there was a problem.

He also explained that Moises Henriques, who has publicly detailed his own struggles with mental health and been a vocal advocate for raising awareness, has been a key mentor.

"Moises Henriques was someone I confided in. He was my first phone call after everything calmed down," said Maxwell.

“He was brilliant – he's gone through it as well so for him to give me an idea of what I could expect to see over the next few weeks was outstanding."

Australia coach Justin Langer had noticed Maxwell lacked his regular enthusiasm shortly before he pulled out of the Gillette T20 series against Sri Lanka in October.

But Maxwell said it was in fact his girlfriend Vini who first noticed something was up.

"It was actually my partner who suggested I speak to someone," Maxwell said. "She was the first one who noticed it.

"Once I'd had that initial conversation it was a big relief off my shoulders."

Scheming with Melbourne Stars coach David Hussey helped reignite Maxwell's passion for cricket, as the club sets out to make amends for last season's dramatic collapse in the final against the Melbourne Renegades.

His hunger to play again eventually returned during his time off; he sent a text to Alavi last month asking if the Lions could fit him into their side for the second week of a two-day game in Geelong.

"The first game he was a bit more reserved than he usually is," explained Alavi. "Then he got back into it and started enjoying it more and more, and then he started to get back to how we know Maxi normally is – really loud, enjoy it and makes plenty of noise on the field.

"He's really enjoyed being back with the group and spending time talking rubbish on the sidelines as you usually do."

Well away from the spotlight of international cricket, Maxwell explained his stint with Fitzroy-Doncaster – which will continue on Saturday ahead of the Stars' first match against Brisbane Heat next Friday – has been beneficial.

"I've had a great couple of weeks, playing club cricket and getting the love back for the game again and really enjoying it," he said.

"It was just getting back in that changeroom environment and having really good close mates around me.

"Probably not putting too much pressure on myself – I've been pretty hard on myself and I've been my own hardest critic for a long period of time. That can wear you down – it's more the stuff you put on yourself, not so much (what one gets) from the outside.

"Just being able to relax a bit more and just play the game."

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