In steering Australia to a stunning 2-1 series win over Pakistan, I believe Australia has found the hard hitting middle-order all-rounder we have been desperately searching for since the retirement of Simon O’Donnell.
The selectors followed a hunch in selecting Maxwell, as he is relatively inexperienced at first-class level. He has repaid their faith already with scores of 38, 28 and 56 at a strike rate of 100 or better.
His bowling is a work in progress but he is aggressive and has opened successfully for his state in one day and Twenty20 games.
Hopefully with the right guidance, his off spinners can continue to improve and add another string to his bow.
He first came under my notice when he guided Victoria to a win over Tasmania in a one day game last year. His 50 off 19 balls was the fastest in domestic history, eclipsing the record of the great David Hookes.
Even more impressive was his ability to guide his side home from a seemingly hopeless position with a combination of brute force and sublime strokeplay, stamping him as a quality finisher.
He is now a proven match-winner and in guiding Australia to victory overnight after shocking shots by Mike Hussey and Daniel Christian he displayed nerves of steel in the furnace of Sharjah.
He was equally impressive with his ability to adapt to foreign conditions and neutralise the skills of Saeed Ajmal, which few others were able to do.
It is early days for this supremely talented youngster but I have seen enough to convince me that we will be seeing plenty more match-winning performances from Glen Maxwell in years to come.
Frankie Hughes
Guest
Personally I'm loving the look of Glenn Maxwell. Power hitting and a good temperament is very rare so it bodes well for Glenn. His bowling will improve, he's only 23, spinners are said to mature at 30. His fielding is fantastic. He could be a fixture for the next 10-15 years.
lolly
Guest
No he's not any where near a test quality bowler. Just because you can take wickets in Aus domestic comps bowling spin doesn't mean you can take wickets anywhere else. I would have thought that was obvious by now. But he looks a handy slugger at the end of an innings that's for sure.
jameswm
Guest
Is Maxwell even remotely near a test-quality bowler? Assuming no, I've got no issue with him playing as a short-form specialist. I do like guys who just manage to get the job done, regardless of how they look. That's in the Bevan, Hussey, Katich mould. Also - Starc has shown he is lethal when he's landing it right. He gets good bounce, and brings it back to the right hander. He also bowls the one that goes across. The issue with him has been control. If he's got that together, and there's no reason to assume he won't one day because he's still young, then he will add to the roup of Pattinson, Hilfy, Siddle, Harris and Cummins. We just need to make sure that at any time 3-4 of them are on fire, and pick those 3-4.
Loz
Guest
Maxwell has shown at Domestic level he can play He's clearly got S Smith covered in ALL aspects If he can stay fit he'll play quite a lot of short form cricket for AUSTRALIA NO ONE I know has ever felt that S SMITH was the next big thing in Australian Cricket
Richard
Guest
I sort of agree that maybe its time to move on from Langer. He is now old school when you look at the likes of Hughes and Warner Smith etc. But something else tells me that in international test cricket sound technique is the core to survival across the continents. I'm not sure how you marry the 20/20 generation with test cricket or even if they can be married.
Richard
Guest
I agree, lets keep the"next big thing" monkey off his back, it is too early. Looking at his stats he is going well in all forms. I can't really comment on his batting because I haven't seen it. His domestic long form ave(45) from a limited number of games indicates he might have potential in test cricket.
rsingi
Roar Rookie
Spot on Boundary Rider
Disco
Roar Guru
Smith was batting well in the Shield prior to being picked for Australia and Langer et al getting their talons into him.
rsingi
Roar Rookie
Fair Call Matt. I guess i regarded Symonds as a batsman but his Meds and offies were very useful.
Matt F
Roar Guru
It's a little early to be proclaiming him as the next big thing, after all it wasn't long ago that people were saying the same thing about Steve Smith, but he's certainly got a fair bit of potential. I thought Andrew Symonds was a pretty fair "hard hitting middle-order all-rounder" in his prime
The Boundary Rider
Roar Rookie
Maxwell was impressive, not because of his scores but the manner he went about it. Very calm and knew when to go big. In the two chases where he played a pivotal role he always looked like he had it under control. If he is going to play as an allrounder, there is some improvement needed in his bowling but is one day batting is very promising
Scuba
Guest
Maxwell can bat - that gives him a serious leg up over "specialist fieldsman" Smith
sledgeross
Guest
Wow another Steve Smith, big lower order hitter who cant take a wicket!