Maxwell one of the best: Finch

While he might be a touch biased, Aaron Finch says his Australia teammate and former housemate Glenn Maxwell is one of the best players on the planet when he goes into attack mode.

Maxwell is Australia’s top-ranked one-day international batsman after a stunning World Cup campaign which featured a hundred off only 51 balls against Sri Lanka at the SCG.

Few batsmen in the world can rival Maxwell’s repertoire of shots, ranging from conventional cover dives and leg glances to outrageous reverse-sweeps, ramps and switch hits.

The unorthodox, and at times agricultural, stroke play has polarised the public who struggle to understand Maxwell’s high-risk, high-reward philosophy to white-ball cricket which can often miss the mark in search of quick runs.

So far on this tour, the 26-year-old has kept his bag of tricks closed the majority of the time, playing only one of his trademark reverse-sweeps this series, a shot that went for four in his knock of 49 in Australia’s controversial 64-run win at Lord’s on Saturday.

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And to the surprise of those in attendance and the hundreds of thousands watching around the globe, Maxwell was even more conventional in his knock of 44 in the one-off T20 international in Cardiff, refusing to play an outlandish stroke as he and Steve Smith rescued Australia’s innings.

Watch: Maxwell's impressive T20 knock (restrictions apply)

But Finch said he was not surprised we haven’t seen Maxwell pull out the party tricks this series, due largely to the fact he has too many to pick from.

“He's a player who has so many options that sometimes he's got too many options,” Finch said. “He doesn't know which one to choose at times.

“When you have a player as skillful and as talented as Glenn, sometimes it is the basic stuff that is forgotten at times, and how good he is when he decides to play in a conventional way.

“The Twenty20 innings he played in Cardiff was a pretty classical innings.

“He got out at the wrong time but up until then he played an unbelievable knock and going into the first game he played beautifully again.

“I think it is about learning and he's copped his fair share of criticism over the time, and a lot of it was a bit unwarranted.

“When you've got a guy who is as damaging and can win a game by himself ... when he does give himself a chance to score, there's not too many better players in the world.”

With Shane Watson ruled out of the rest of the series with a calf strain, Maxwell is now the most experienced allrounder in the 14-man squad.

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And while the circumstances of Maxwell’s elevation are unfortunate, it could not have come at a better time for the Victorian.

Watch: Australia take 2-0 lead (restrictions apply)

In 2015, Maxwell averages 45 with the bat and 28 with the ball, both significantly better than his career record.

It’s led to the dashing allrounder finding a permanent place in Australia’s limited-overs middle order, bringing with it confidence he belongs at the highest level.

“I’m happy with my role in the Australian team at the moment,” Maxwell told cricket.com.au last month.

“It suits both the team and myself. I’ve got to keep trying to do as well as possible.

“It’s a nice feeling to feel comfortable in that team now.

“Twelve months ago I was still a bit iffy about where my position was in that team.

“To finally feel (secure) after that World Cup it’s a comfortable feeling for me. It’s a nice feeling.”