Cricket World Cup 2023: Glenn Maxwell’s concussion the latest mishap for a player who can’t stay out of the headlines

Glenn Maxwell’s latest setback due to a concussion sustained from falling off a golf cart is as quirky as it is on-brand for the Aussie star writes DANIEL CHERNY.

With Glenn Maxwell, there is always something.

Not even a week after he blasted Australia’s speediest century in one-day international cricket, Maxwell finds himself sidelined through misadventure well away from the pitch.

There are seemingly many ways for cricketers to get injured on a golf course, just ask Jonny Bairtstow and Josh Inglis, but falling off the back of a moving cart is a new one.

At first glance it reads like an episode of Jackass.

The truth, certainly according to Australian coach Andrew McDonald and others connected to the camp, is much less sinister.

Having played 36 holes of golf on their day off in Ahmedabad as part of the humorously named Jesse Ryder Cup, a weary group of Australian players and staff were being ferried 300 metres or so in the dark to the clubhouse. There wasn’t room for all of them in the carts themselves, so a handful latched onto the back.

READ MORE:FREAK INCIDENT RULES MAXWELL OUT OF ENGLAND CLASH

Glenn Maxwell launching into one of his punishing reverse sweeps. Picture: Arun Sankar/AFP

Maxwell was one of those. For a man with such generally sure hands in the field, his grip failed him.

It’s not an act about to win the Victorian the Nobel prize for physics, but nor is it a hanging offence.

The Aussies are hopeful he will miss only one match, and sure he will be back for the final league stage match against Bangladesh at the latest.

Even Maxwell himself would concede it is all very on-brand. Risk mitigation has never been a big part of his package, and it is partly why he endears himself so much to fans. The abandon with which he plays is the obvious part, but he has long been frank to a fault publicly, as recently as a week ago when he bluntly questioned the merits of flashing lights being played to entertain fans during drinks breaks. Many would have favoured the comfort of a populist view, but one thing you can’t accuse Maxwell of is pretending to be someone he is not.

He was unlucky with this one, just as he was not even 12 months ago when breaking his leg at a mate’s birthday party.

And it would be churlish to argue that Maxwell and his teammates shouldn’t have been out playing golf. Through a hectic tournament of travel, taking the chance to unwind on the course was eminently reasonable.

Glenn Maxwell – pictured with Aussie skipper Pat Cummins – is the ultimate entertainer. Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP

But there is some irony in the fact that a player whose training workload has been carefully managed before and during this World Cup because of complications from the leg break ends up missing a game for something so trivial. Then again he’s in good company in Australian cricket. After all Alyssa Healy’s dog undermined her Women’s Big Bash League campaign.

The timing of Maxwell’s injury is not ideal, but nor is it catastrophic. The Aussies are helped by the fact it came towards the start of what is their longest break in the tournament, minimising the amount of games Maxwell is likely to miss.

That the side has already consolidated its spot in the top four, with Marcus Stoinis ready to return from his calf issue and Travis Head back from his hand injury, means the Aussies should be able to overcome his loss against a hapless England.

Still, he leaves an enormous hole. Because of his dual status as a middle-order destroyer and secondary spin option, there is no like for like replacement in the squad.

Head’s offies will likely come into play, while Marnus Labuschagne, who keeps dodging potential exclusion from the XI for all sorts of reasons, was practising both off-spin and leg-spin in the nets outside Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday night.

As Australia almost found out the hard way against New Zealand, the margins in this tournament can be small. Others will need to step up in Maxwell’s absence to ensure history views his accident as a quirky footnote rather than an infamous misstep.

Originally published as Cricket World Cup 2023: Glenn Maxwell’s concussion the latest mishap for a player who can’t stay out of the headlines