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Maxwell is Australia's one-day man. Someone tell Steve Smith

9th February, 2018
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Glenn Maxwell of Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
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9th February, 2018
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If Glenn Maxwell was intent on making a point then his unbeaten century in Australia’s five-wicket T20 defeat of England the other day probably wasn’t the worst way of going about it.

He was omitted from the recent ODI series for a lack of consistency according to national selector Trevor Hohns: “No one is in any doubt about Glenn’s ability or his potential to produce match-winning contributions with the bat.

“What we have wanted from him is more consistency but in his past 20 matches in this format he has averaged 22 and we need more than that from a player in the side’s batting engine room.”

And for leaning too far in favour of the unorthodox in Steve Smith’s view: “We’ve all seen the way he can come out and play and do all his funky stuff and be pretty cool with that, but when he puts his head down he’s actually a really good batsman, as we’ve seen in Shield cricket – he’s got some big runs there.

“If he keeps his head switched on and trains really well and focuses on basic things probably more than the expansive things then I think that will help him have his consistency.

“If he’s having those consistent performances he’s certainly a person you want in your team.”

Pretty damning assessments from those doing the choosing and both views would be hard to disagree with if you look at numbers on a piece paper and watched some of Maxwell’s more, shall we say, eccentric efforts with the bat.

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But while the 20 and 50-over formats aren’t quite one and the same as some would have you believe, a place needs to be found for the Victorian if another of Smith’s quotes is anything to go by.

After defeat in the ODI opener at the MCG, he said: “It just looks like the way they play is for everyone to go hard and Joe Root is sort of the rock in the middle.

“That works for them and it’s something that we might have to think about as well.”

Of course, this could be taken with a pinch of salt and treated as a bit of a throwaway line but Australia’s batting was second best to England’s over the course of the series with Eoin Morgan’s side utilising a style others may be tempted to emulate.

There was a slight caveat to Smith’s remarks.

“When you do that, you’re going to have days where you get bowled out for not many. But you back your players to come off maybe more often than not and get those big totals. That’s what the English players are doing at the moment. They’re playing with such freedom.”

This was perfectly understandable but there is little doubt that foot to the floor attack is streaking ahead of pragmatism in the limited overs batting scheme of things.

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And that is where Maxwell’s virtuoso performance at the Blundstone Arena should have opened the eyes of those in charge.

If England’s method is deemed to be the way to go, and it has certainly revolutionised their ODI fortunes after the ignominy of an early exit from the 2015 World Cup, then Maxwell is the type of player who could well flourish.

Glenn Maxwell

(Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

And the ‘you back your players to come off maybe more often than not’ part of Smith’s utterances is worth paying attention to.

Maxwell is no Virat Kohli where consistency is almost a given but he can shift, or maintain, momentum in a contest and if the desired style is to ensure the accelerator remains depressed, his modus operandi is a nice fit.

Yes he does the odd thing that is difficult to explain and occasionally his peers may be tempted to bang their heads against a brick wall but if you have a batsman capable of producing what was served up the other evening, it would seem strange if he remains on the outside.

If Smith intends to upgrade Australia’s ODI game, it would make sense to find those who can fit the mould and as Twenty20 seeps more and more into its longer cousin’s consciousness, certain elements demand to be incorporated.

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In Hobart, Maxwell provided an ideal demonstration and in the process, really did prove a point.

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