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Whisper it quietly, but it could be Glenn Maxwell’s time.
You didn’t read the previous line incorrectly and, yes, this particular author has had plenty to say on the merits, or otherwise, of the Victorian as a Test cricketer.
But that was then.
Very soon it will be a case of needs must and that need will be Maxwell. I would call him by his ‘Big Show’ moniker but he’s grown out of that, yes? And it is the pivotal position of Test all-rounder that is doing the calling.
Not as a spinner as he’s nowhere near the level required and not as a top order batsman as he has none of the patience required, but as the number six and fifth bowler.
The reasoning is pretty straightforward.
If Australia are to have any chance of upsetting the game’s current frontrunners on their own turf – exceedingly slim if every opinion going is considered – then they need six batsmen and five bowlers.
Include the wicketkeeper in all of this and some simple mathematics would indicate the necessity of one of the batsmen being one of the bowlers.
Step forward Glenn.
The much-maligned Mitchell Marsh shouldn’t be anywhere near the selectors’ thoughts when the starting XI is put together, the most recent incumbent, Hilton Cartwright, hasn’t been given a seat on the plane and, well, that’s it.
Step forward Glenn.
A calculated gamble could always be the order of the day , marrying a top six with just the four bowlers but that’s asking for trouble.
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are in excellent form but if the spinners don’t deliver their workload will become backbreaking. It may have been an option when Shane Warne was around but Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe don’t fit that particular bracket.
Step forward Glenn.
For all his gung-ho tendencies and apparent lack of thought with the bat in hand, Maxwell has at times shown he can score freely when faced with spin and that has to count for something.
David Warner and Steve Smith are proven on the sub-continent, Usman Khawaja is not, and Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb can hardly be judged with no evidence to go on.
Therefore, the case for a batting/spinning all-rounder doesn’t quite look as daft as it may have done not so long ago.
Step forward Glenn.
When faced with a particularly tricky assignment the default setting is often to persist with what you know. Yet Australia in India/Sri Lanka/UAE only know how to come second so maybe the time is right for a bit of out of the box logic.
The only thing to lose is another sub-continental series and the collective CV is hardly going to look any worse with such an addition.
So who knows? The selectors get cussed often enough for decisions that seemingly make little sense – Chris Lynn, one ODI then replaced at four by M.Marsh, anybody? – so perhaps they should embrace such criticism and laugh in its face.
I’ve heard many a time that cricket in India is a different animal and, as such, that kind of beats needs taming in a different way.
Step forward Glenn. Your time is now.