Glenn Maxwell has confirmed that he was surprised, and a little confused, by Cricket Australia’s decision to omit him from the Test squad heading to the UAE to face Pakistan.
Cricket Australia have backed their decision to exclude Maxwell from the upcoming Test series against Pakistan amid facing criticism from former and current Australian cricketers. Maxwell (who didn’t play County Cricket this year after Cricket Australia advised him to rest ahead of the Australia A tour of India and the Test series against Pakistan) was left confused when he learned that he wasn’t selected for either squad.
‘I suppose the disappointment from my side is I didn’t get an opportunity to play any cricket over the last couple of months … I had a few offers to play county cricket in England and they were initially knocked back with an opportunity to go and play in India in the A series. To get told not to play in the A series and have a rest, and I was understanding of that and their reasoning behind that … I was hoping that was a positive note to go to Dubai [to play Pakistan]. But obviously that wasn’t the case,’ Maxwell told SEN Radio.
Speaking to cricket.com.au, Ricky Ponting was quick to slam the selectors after the squad was released, stating, ‘If I was Maxi I’d be thinking, “why didn’t you give me the chance to actually go there [to India] and push my case to get myself into the team?” They didn’t pick him on that Australia A tour and they’ve said they’ve seen him play enough in those conditions and knew what he could do. But if you think about it now, that must have actually meant they weren’t going to pick him at all. He didn’t even come into calculations for that Test tour.’
Peter Siddle – recalled to the team after injuries to Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins – also expressed his surprise at the decision. ‘Coming home and being around him yesterday, he was a little bit confident that he was going to be a part of this squad so he’ll be very disappointed. I do feel for him … I know he’ll be shattered.’
The selection chairman Trevor Hohns told Maxwell the decision was based on his lack of runs during last year’s tour to Bangladesh. Maxwell revealed, ‘[Hohns explained] the fact that my numbers at Test level don’t stand up over the last few years when I’ve been included.’
Maxwell got the devastating call in the most ironic of circumstances, ‘It may sound extremely funny but when I got the phone call yesterday I was actually wearing the baggy green, as extraordinary as it might sound. I was doing a shoot for one of the sponsors and we were fully in our whites. And I had the baggy green on and got the call while it was on top of my head.’
Photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
