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James Faulkner and Glenn Maxwell were notable omissions from Australia’s Ashes squad. The good news is that they will use some of that free time to hone their red-ball games in county cricket.
After completing their Indian Premier League duties, the Australian all-rounders will head to England to play in the English first-class competition, according to Fairfax Media.
Faulkner and Maxwell both have huge potential as Test cricketers but their development has been hampered by a lack of first-class cricket in recent times due to their international limited overs commitments.
Maxwell will play for Yorkshire in Division One of the County Championship and Faulkner for Lancashire in Division Two.
The Victorian, who will also play T20 cricket for Yorkshire, got the opportunity to play this first-class cricket because of an injury to Bushrangers teammate Aaron Finch.
Just over two weeks ago, Finch suffered a serious hamstring injury which will reportedly take at least 12 weeks to recover from. It could be well into July before he is ready to front up for Yorkshire.
With Maxwell’s IPL team Kings XI Punjab struggling, he should be free to leave for England in about a week. That means he should be able to play at least four first-class fixtures for Yorkshire but, depending on Finch’s recovery, could get as many as five or six matches under his belt.
Faulkner, meanwhile, will play for Lancashire and he, too, will be replacing an Australian teammate. He will take the place of Peter Siddle once the veteran paceman leaves England to join the Australian squad in the Caribbean later this month.
Siddle has been in great touch for Lancashire, taking 14 wickets at 23, and making 158 runs at 40 across their first four games. Faulkner will play with Lanchashire until the end of August, meaning he could play as many as eight first-class matches.
He and Maxwell should benefit greatly from their stints in English county cricket after having limited recent first-class cricket due to their responsibilities in coloured clothing for Australia.
Faulkner has played just five Sheffield Shield matches over the past two years and Maxwell eight, although only two of the spin-bowling all-rounders’ appearances were last summer.
Australian selector Rod Marsh has indicated that both players are still in their minds as far as Test cricket goes. They were overlooked for the upcoming Test tours of the Caribbean in favour of fellow all-rounders Shane Watson and Mitchell Marsh.
Watson was very fortunate to retain his place in the Test setup after an ordinary summer. He also faltered with the bat when it mattered in the last two Ashes – struggling when the series were alive before inflating his statistics with relatively meaningless scores once the series were all but decided.
Faulkner was particularly unlucky to miss out on the squads after impressing in his sole Test – the fifth match of the last Ashes in England. Faulkner has made it clear that returning to Australia’s Test setup is a burning desire for him.
He wrote in a recent column for The Mercury in Hobart that he had been told well in advance of the recent Test squad announcement that he wouldn’t be included because of his lack of recent red-ball cricket.
“So much of the focus and scheduling leading into the World Cup was focused on one-day cricket,” Faulkner wrote. “Now this is behind us, I can spend more time in whites playing for the Tigers. I would like to play Test cricket, that’s the pinnacle, and the path is pretty simple.
“I will have the opportunity to play more Sheffield Shield games for Tasmania next season – I’ve just got to make sure I do well with bat and ball and hopefully the rest can take care of itself.”
Maxwell’s first-class credentials are not yet as strong as Faulkner’s but he has the advantage of being a batting all-rounder rather than a bowling all-rounder.
With Watson in the fading twilight of his career, Maxwell looks set to spend years fighting the likes of Marsh and Moises Henriques for that Test all-rounder spot in the top six.
Exposure to the English county circuit should only benefit he and Faulkner and add to Australia’s depth at Test level.