Glenn Maxwell urged to reflect on how his relationship with alcohol impacts his cricket career

Glenn Maxwell’s latest alcohol-fuelled incident has not seen him drop off the selectors’ radar – but it has brought him some unwelcome attention from national coach Andrew McDonald.

Australian cricket leaders George Bailey and Andrew McDonald have subtly cautioned Glenn Maxwell against jeopardising his playing future after it emerged that his boozy night in Adelaide came during a period which had been specifically cordoned off for rehabilitation of the all-rounder’s previously broken leg.

Maxwell was on Wednesday confirmed as a member of Australia’s T20 squad to face the West Indies next month, two days after it emerged that he had been hospitalised following a drinking session in the South Australian capital last Friday night.

The Victorian was already set to be withdrawn from Australia’s one-day squad for the series against the same opposition in the first week of February, in part due to the lingering impact of the leg injury he suffered late at a friend’s birthday party in late 2022.

Glenn Maxwell ‘needs to have a look at what he’s doing’ according to national coach Andrew McDonald. Picture: Getty Images

Australian selection chair Bailey stopped short of publicly throwing the book at Maxwell but made a point of noting how the 35-year-old’s body was more vulnerable than previously given the fallout from the injury, which continued to plague him for periods in 2023.

Bailey described Maxwell’s behaviour in Adelaide, which followed the birthday party incident and his World Cup golf cart concussion, as “a mistake.”

“I’m sure if Maxi had his time again, that wouldn’t be how the night would play out,” Bailey said on Wednesday.

“I think with Maxi’s injury, we’ve been aware for a while that I guess that robustness that he had in his younger years and how he’s done he’s our dynamic he’s been able to be in the field that might not look the same for the rest of his career. Particularly in one-day cricket, which is physically challenging for someone like him who is across all all phases of the game, as much as he is.

“We’re clearly focusing at this stage of the year and with what’s coming up on the T20s. So this was a period of time that we’d identified some weeks ago that would be a good time for for Maxy to really focus on some a chance to rehab and prep his body and get himself right for a pretty busy period of T20 cricket.

“How players then use that time and how they prepare, you’d like to like to hope that that’s giving themselves the best chance to succeed. I think Glenn has said and others have said it was a mistake, I’m sure if he had his time again, that wouldn’t be wouldn’t be the night that he’d like to have. But it’s happened, he will come back into that T20 squad, he’s a really important player for us.”

Australia chief selector George Bailey described Maxwell’s Adelaide incident as ‘a mistake’. Picture: Getty Images

Aussie coach McDonald said earlier in the day on SEN that he had told Maxwell to reflect on his behaviour.

“As I said before, him looking after himself has to be a consideration moving forward and we are giving him the opportunity to rest and rehab in that period of time and I suppose the lessons for him around that would be to take up his end of the bargain and take care of himself,” McDonald said.

“We want to see Glenn Maxwell playing cricket for the next three to four years for Australia – can he get to the next World Cup in 2027. He’s a key player in our white ball format and when he’s out there we are a far better team. We’re going to do our end and Glenn’s going to have to pull up his end of that bargain.

“All the information he’s given, he’s had a few drinks and the night has ended the way that it did and that’s less than ideal from his perspective and our perspective and it’s an honest mistake.

“He needs to have a look at what he’s doing at his end and whether it’s the right thing, but thankfully there’s no harm out of it and he’s well now. There’s obviously a duty of care from our end and it looks like he’ll return for that T20 series against the West Indies.”

Originally published as Glenn Maxwell urged to reflect on how his relationship with alcohol impacts his cricket career