If Glenn Maxwell is available for Victoria’s next Sheffield Shield clash, it would beggar belief if coach Chris Rogers left him out of the side.
When asked if Maxwell would return to the Victorian XI before he departs for the IPL, Rogers has noticeably avoided any commitment.
“We are trying to balance up what we want to do as a team and how we can help Glenn as well,” he said earlier this week after a draw with Tasmania at the MCG.
“It’s difficult to manage at times, but we have to do the best we can for the team and individual.”
But it’s not difficult at all.
Maxwell simply has to play if available.
Rogers’ so-called ‘conundrum’ appears to centre on young Victorian middle-order players Matthew Short, 25, and Jake Fraser-McGurk, 18, who are the current number four and five where Maxwell would slot in.
Victoria are unlikely to make the Sheffield Shield final this season, and they are (understandably) keen to continue the development of Short and Fraser-McGurk by exposing them to some of the nation’s best bowlers.
But the Sheffield Shield is not a development competition.
It’s the highest domestic level in the country, and the best players should play.
Further, when said player (who is only 32, mind) is not only comfortably within the best XI but a genuine prospect to play for Australia in three scheduled tours to the subcontinent in 2022, any hint of bypassing him would be baffling.
Victoria’s lack of surety on Maxwell is disappointing.
Rogers missed an opportunity to simply say “if he is available, he plays”, and put the issue to bed.
(Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
Maxwell, who has played seven Tests for Australia, has long professed his ambitions to return to the side and any opportunity to play Shield cricket (which are rare given his position in Australia’s ODI and T20 squads) must be taken.
“I’m still very much in the prime of my career. I’m only 32 and there’s still a fair bit in me,” he said a month ago.
“I’m not done and dusted there.”
Alongside Steve Smith, Maxwell is the only current Australian player to have scored a Test ton in India.
While he is unlikely to ever play a Test match in Australia — he has admitted to not being “anywhere near” the upper pecking order for top six spots — an opportunity could arise in Asia where his aggressive style and off-spin could prove vital.
A ‘horses for courses’ selection — and Maxwell knows it.
“There are quite a few subcontinent tours (coming up) and I feel like I could certainly add something to that Test squad if I was selected. I’ll be certainly doing everything in my power to try and get on those tours,” he said.
“If I can somehow get some red-ball cricket at some stage, or some time in Asia to work on my game over there, hopefully that can be enough to get back in the baggy green.”
Which is why every Shield game is important.
While squeezing one four-day game in before the IPL won’t play a defining role in any potential selection on those 2022 tours, it’s clear that he needs to be given every opportunity to play with the red ball.
And Victoria need to play their part.
Short and Fraser-McGurk may well push for higher honours one day, but gifting them a game over Maxwell would be a distinctly poor call.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
The issue could be taken out of Victoria’s hands anyhow, should authorities intervene and prevent Maxwell from playing the four-day clash against Queensland on Monday.
Queensland has closed its border to New Zealand, a country Maxwell returned from on Sunday with Australia’s T20 squad. It was not yet known on Thursday if Maxwell would be given the all-clear to play.
Beyond that, Victoria’s next Shield game is against Western Australia on March 25.
For Maxwell, this would also cut things fine given his IPL franchise (Royal Challengers Bangalore) play their first game of the 2021 season on April 9.
Mick
Guest
If Maxwell was available and not picked than he should consider going to SA or Tasmania next season.
Ravi
Roar Rookie
Ps. His bowling averages are 41.6 in tests, 52.6 in ODIs and 41.2 in FC matches. Anyone lining up for that return?
Ravi
Roar Rookie
Hardly baffling that Maxwell is not a priority for any shield team! Maxwell's test average is 26 with one 100 & no 50s from 14 starts! His 1st class average is just below 40 with 7 centuries from 112 starts. At 32, his best is behind him and it wasn't very good.
JamesH
Roar Guru
And my (limited) understanding of his motivation for the move was Vic's desire to bat him lower in the order behind younger players. They've done him no favours.
Micko
Roar Rookie
And back to the hindsight thing: Tait was talked up by guys like Lillee as the next big thing, and to make an immediate impact in that Ashes, which he really didn't. No one foresaw how bad our pace bowling was going to be in that series.
badmanners
Roar Rookie
Hey Vicboy, Lee was probably not at his best that series 5 tests, 20 wickets at 41, 4.3 runs per over, but he certainly helped out with the bat at times and put in when fielding. Gillespie, Kasper were poor with the ball and Martyn, Gilchrist and Katich very much underperformed with the bat. No Julian in that series.
Vicboy
Roar Rookie
Brett Lee was fantastic in that series. Ponting was forced to use him as a stock bowler as Julian etc bowled buffet spell after spell McGill could have played if there was an all rounder, but Warne/McGrath generally did the job
Micko
Roar Rookie
Absolutely! :thumbup:
TheGeneral
Roar Rookie
Yes Maxwell is over rated as a red ball cricketer. He has not played a test for 3 and a half years or a first class game in 18 months. He is more interested in chasing dollars in T20 tournaments.
IDeals22
Roar Rookie
I agree. So many see the rare flashes of brilliance and overlook the fact that most of the time Maxwell is a lame duck red ball cricketer.
badmanners
Roar Rookie
Hey Micko we really shouldn't overlook England using mints to alter the ball. In hindsight it surprises me that we don't seem to make an issue of it almost like it's good luck to them for getting away with it.
badmanners
Roar Rookie
McGill was a noted hot head or as they say nowadays "Emotional"
Gee
Roar Rookie
Maxwell has a test average of 27, a FC average of 39 & doesn't make 100s in Shield cricket. Time to give someone new a chance.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Yep, we've figured that out. :angry: :thumbdown:
Chanon
Guest
I hope that the selectors have the guts to play Maxwell in the upcoming subcontinent test matches in the near future, regardless of shield games which would be ideal as everyone else has suggested the Victorian selectors won’t have a bar of it! What’s been missing in our test team is some free spirit energy to inspire others!
Paul D
Roar Rookie
1993. Shane Warne and Tim May. Warne played 6 tests, May played 5, and they took 34 and 21 wickets between them. We also picked Shaun Tait in the last test match of 2005, to add to that list. MacGill would have been a far better choice than all 4 of those bowlers.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
Nah he wasn't picked because he was a drunk and a sleaze.
Rellum
Roar Guru
"But the Sheffield Shield is not a development competition" Just to add, CA does see the Shield as a development competition.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I am sure the Vics attitude to the Shield was different back then, was that Sakers year in charge? They actually were trying to win back then. Now....??
Micko
Roar Rookie
Probably because they don't want it to bite them in the backside when he destroys the Vics in the Shield! :happy: