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Glenn Maxwell's Test future hinges on pay dispute

1st August, 2017
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Glenn Maxwell celebrates a century. Was it his last in the baggy green? (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Expert
1st August, 2017
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As reports circulated yesterday of a nearing end to Australian cricket’s pay dispute, one international cricketer perhaps more than any other would have been sweating on a swift outcome – Glenn Maxwell.

When the all-rounder scored a rare Test ton on Indian soil for an Australian in March, I thought he deserved to be a lock for the Ashes.

But his Test career has been put in jeopardy by the pay dispute.

The Australia selectors have a strong preference for a seam-bowling all-rounder at six in home Tests, which means Maxwell needs to excel in this month’s two Tests in Bangladesh to earn an Ashes spot. But series remains in doubt, with Australia’s cricketers refusing to get on the plane on August 18 unless the pay war has been settled.

If the Bangladesh series is cancelled, denying Maxwell the chance to make himself undroppable for the Ashes, he will likely be jettisoned this summer for a batting all-rounder who bowls seam – probably Western Australia’s Hilton Cartwright.

Hilton Cartwright of Australia bowls

AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Maxwell is particularly vulnerable due to the fact he does not seem to be well regarded by captain Steve Smith or coach Darren Lehmann.

Smith only gave Maxwell six overs in the Tests in India, despite the off spinner having taken seven wickets at an average of 27 in his previous two matches in the country. The skipper’s been similarly dismissive of Maxwell in ODIs, refusing to bowl him in ten of his past 13 matches, even though the Victorian averaged a solid 32 with the ball in the preceding 18 months.

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The bullish Lehmann patently has a major influence on such on-field tactics so he, too, appears not to be interested in letting Maxwell express his all-round talents. As one of four members of the national selection panel, Lehmann has a big say in Maxwell’s immediate Test future.

The 28-year-old very likely will bat at six in the first Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka starting on August 27, if the tour goes ahead. His backs-to-the-wall century in the third Test in India was the first ton at number six by an Australian in almost three years.

In that three-year period, Australia have had many Test matches on flat pitches where their number six has come to the crease in perfect conditions under minimal pressure. Yet none managed to do what Maxwell did in alien conditions against elite bowlers, after arriving in the middle with his team in trouble at 4-140.

That wonderful performance may not matter if the pay dispute derails this month’s tour, and the selectors once again are seduced by the idea of having an all-rounder who can bowl seam up in home conditions.

Despite a News Ltd media report that the pay dispute is as good as over, any deal still has to be ratified by Cricket Australia’s board, who have been staunchly opposed to caving in to the demands of the players.

As much as I want to believe it’s about to end, the war need only stretch only another three weeks for the Bangladesh tour to be scuppered. And if that happens, Maxwell will lose his Test spot come the first Ashes Test in November.

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