Australia’s ODI squad against England saw Chris Lynn and Tim Paine being called into the side while Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Wade were shown the door.
With Wade, it was quite understandable as he hasn’t had the runs in any format since his ODI century against Pakistan. But Maxwell’s omission was a bit shocking. He scored 100 against India during the Ranchi Test, thereby making him the second Australian after Shane Watson to score hundreds in all three formats.
Even against Bangladesh during the Test series, he looked a batsman much more in control of his game, and in fact hit winning runs against the Tigers, a 17-ball 25* to add to a crucial 38 he scored in the first innings, which was a much-improved performance from the first Test.
Later in the year, the Victorian scored 278 runs against New South Wales, which saw him named as a backup in the squad for first Ashes Test against England. If not for the Perth pitch, the ‘Big Show’ would probably have played ahead of Mitch Marsh. But the younger Marsh grabbed the opportunity with both hands by scoring career-best 181 and 29* in the match-saving effort at MCG. He is a lock at No.6 for the tour to South Africa.
But considering his efforts to work on his game, dropping Maxwell was kind of a bombshell. True, he averaged 22 in his last 20 ODI innings. But batting at five or six, a batsman is expected to go after the bowling from ball one. In fact a year ago, he got 60 and 78 at Brisbane and Sydney against Pakistan. In the Champions Trophy and on the tour of India, he still looked in good nick. It was evident from his 18-ball 39 against India at Chennai.
(AFP / Theo Karanikos)
The man to score the fastest hundred in ODIs for Australia needs to be back for his unorthodox style. But to ones to say he isn’t smart, let’s give an overview of how he got his hundred against Sri Lanka in the 2015 World Cup. Against Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s best ODI bowler, he scored 12 runs off 13 balls at a strike rate of 92 but was brutal against other bowlers, against whom he got 90 runs off 40 balls. Clearly, he can be a smart batsman.
A player such as him brings the flair and x-factor in the team with his batting, bowling and acrobatic fielding. He is selfless, as he has from time to time got out scoring quick runs for the team instead of looking for personal milestones. He got out for 95 against England in ODI series before the last World Cup and even for 88 off 39 against Afghanistan, when he could have easily got his maiden ODI hundred.
A once-in-a-generation player like Maxwell should be judged by his match-winning contributions in all three formats instead of looking for consistency in runs, which he can very well pull off, but which comes in place of his unorthodoxy, which takes any bowler by surprise.
He can be a bit more compact at the start of his innings, but dropping him after two or three bad performances or just going by numbers is uncalled for. Chris Lynn no doubt has been the most feared batsman in Australian domestic cricket.
But Maxwell is a three-dimensional player, he can win the match in any situation. If you recall his last over against Pakistan in an ODI series in the UAE, where he defended three runs, you would know why.
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