Glenn Maxwell admits his Test career is over and accepts where he sits in Australia’s pecking order

Incredibly, Glenn Maxwell hasn’t faced a red ball in 406 days. But with pressure rising on Australia’s batsman, does he rate his chances of a stunning Test comeback?

Glenn Maxwell cannot remember the last time he faced a red ball.

“I genuinely don’t know,” Maxwell told the Herald Sun.

“It might’ve been club cricket last year. Yeah, I reckon it was club cricket.”

The 32-year-old guessed correctly.

It has been 406 days since one of the world’s most watchable cricketers rolled the arm over for Fitzroy-Doncaster, and even longer since he picked up a bat.

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You have to go back another two months for Maxwell’s last Sheffield Shield match, when he top-scored for Victoria with 57 in October 2019.

That will not change anytime soon.

Maxwell will jet to New Zealand next month for Australia’s T20 tour as the first-class season resumes, sharpening his white-ball focus for World Cups scheduled in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

“It doesn’t faze me,” Maxwell said.

“I’m a bloke who travels around the world most of the year playing white-ball stuff for Australia.

“I’ve always known that takes over most of our red-ball domestic summer.

“It’s one of those things where sometimes it’s a bit of a double-edged sword.

“You’d love to put your name forward for higher honours, but at the risk of losing your spot in the one-day team it’s not worth it.”

Glenn Maxwell, hitting a six against India last month in a T20, has been limited to white-ball cricket. Picture: Phil Hillyard

That’s exactly what happened to Maxwell in 2019.

The exhilarating entertainer sacrificed millions of dollars by skipping the Indian Premier League so he could play county cricket at Lancashire and press his Test claims in an Ashes year.

The selfless move backfired.

An exhausted Maxwell spent 209 consecutive nights on the road and – after an underwhelming World Cup – he was dumped from the ODI team.

But with Test No.5 Matthew Wade leaving the selection door open and India poking holes in Australia’s batting line-up, where does Maxwell stand?

“I don’t think I stand anywhere near it, to be honest,” he said.

“They’ve got their idea of what they want. They’ve got guys in there at the moment who are very, very good first-class players.

“Cameron Green we can see is going to be an absolute superstar, Puck (Will Pucovski), Travis Head’s on the bench averaging 40 in Test cricket.

“They’ve got more than enough.”

Maxwell’s admission is significant because it is the first time he has conceded a future in the Test line-up might be beyond him.

In 2019 he told the Herald Sun: “I’m still trying my hardest to get back in there and that was the whole reason for me going over to Lancashire, to get those extra opportunities in red ball cricket.”

Glenn Maxwell during the fourth Test against India in Dharamsala in 2017. Picture: AFP

In 2018 he told us: “To knock back a chance to play IPL was a big decision, and a tough decision. It’s not something you make lightly, but the thought of playing Test cricket again still burns deep. This is a pretty clear sign I still want to play Test cricket.”

While back in 2016 he told us: “If I play to my potential, then I’ll get the opportunity.”

If there are no more pages to be written in Maxwell’s Test book then you wonder how history will remember his seven-match career.

Mismanaged? Possibly. Unfilled? Probably.

Was Maxwell the maverick marginalised because of his sheer audacity and tendency to sacrifice consistency for creativity?

After all, India’s version of Maxwell – 23-year-old whiz kid Rishabh Pant – just won his country the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with an aggressive mindset moulded in the T20 arena.

Would Maxwell have averaged more runs against India than Wade (21.6) or Travis Head (20.7)?

India’s leg-side bowling plans strangled Australia as Steve Smith conceded he let Ravichandran Ashwin dictate terms in the first two Tests.

Would they have bogged down Maxwell?

In Maxwell’s first 10 Test innings he was used as an opener and at No.3, No.4, No.5, No.6, No.7 and No.8.

Maxwell was dumped from the ODI team after underperforming at the 2019 World Cup.

One of Australia’s most popular players, he has never even played a home Test.

The closest Maxwell came was on Boxing Day in 2012, when he was secretly whisked to the MCG as cover for Shane Watson, only for Watson to pass a fitness test.

Plotting Maxwell’s Test career is a dizzying exercise.

The Victorian received his baggy green in 2013 when he replaced Nathan Lyon in the second Test in India.

He was dropped for the third, recalled for the fourth, then dropped for the Ashes in England.

Maxwell won a reprieve in October 2014 for the second Test against Pakistan in the UAE.

It was a one-off; he was dumped for the home summer.

Stars teammate Kevin Pietersen said it was “baffling” that Maxwell didn’t pad up on Boxing Day in 2016.

“It’s not a case of him being one of the best in Australia, he’s one of the best players in the world,” Pietersen told the Herald Sun at the time.

Ricky Ponting called for Maxwell to join the Test squad for its coming tour of India, and Maxwell replaced Mitch Marsh in the third Test in Ranchie.

Batting at No.6, Maxwell celebrated a breakthrough Test century against India – a feat only shared by Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and David Warner from Australia’s current squad.

Finally, it appeared Maxwell was on solid ground.

But he played only three more Tests and when Australia returned home for the Ashes he was dropped for Shaun Marsh.

Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns blamed Maxwell’s axing on his lean Sheffield Shield run.

“(He) hasn’t performed well enough in the early rounds this year,” Hohns said.

“We just feel that Shaun Marsh … has performed much, much better and demanded to be chosen.”

Glenn Maxwell leaves the field after being dismissed for 278 runs in a Sheffield Shield match against NSW in 2017. Picture: AAP

Maxwell hammered 278 for Victoria at North Sydney Oval a week later, to no avail.

When Australian cricket plunged into crisis in South Africa three months later, Maxwell was thrown on the plane as Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft were expelled after sandpaper-gate.

But he carried the drinks in Johannesburg as Matthew Renshaw, Joe Burns and Peter Handscomb replaced the banned trio in the XI.

Justin Langer then took over as coach and Maxwell lost his place in the Test squad for the UAE tour. He has not been sighted since.

“I think I am (at peace with it). I haven’t really given it much thought,” Maxwell said.

“I’m not too fazed by the missed opportunities.”

The kid who had to bat left-handed if he wanted to play lunchtime cricket at Belgrave South Primary School in 1998 drips with talent of a different colour to the fonts used in the textbook.

But that schoolyard rule — designed to blunt his dominance — helped hone the unconventional genius he uses to manipulate fields in all formats.

Life is good for Maxwell, even if his treasured baggy green is collecting dust rather than sponging sweat.

Recently he proposed to Vini Raman and, much like his attitude at the crease, Maxwell is a little impatient.

“I’m trying to find some space in the schedule to have two weddings (Indian and Australian ceremonies),” he said.

“The schedule is ridiculously crazy and there’s not a whole lot of time I’ll even be home for this year.”

“I’m hoping for next year. I want to get married, have kids, get a dog and do all that sort of stuff.”

Who will bat No.5 in South Africa next month?

THE INCUMBENT

Matthew Wade, 33

Tests 36

Average 29.9

Some of Wade’s reckless T20-style dismissals against India have the batsman in the gun after four Tests without a half-century. Looked sharper as a makeshift opener than at No.5. Have the credits from twin Ashes tons in 2019 run out?

THE CONTENDERS

Ben McDermott, 26

Tests 0

First-class average 34.1

The buzz boy who credits his golf swing and 91kg frame for brutal batting power is the buzz boy. McDermott’s unbeaten century against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami preceded Big Bash knocks of 89 not-out, 91 and 96. But unless McDermott is given his baggy green in South Africa he would probably be better off taking down New Zealand’s T20 attack in a World Cup year.

Travis Head, 27

Tests 19

Test average 39.8

Head has been axed mid-series against England and India in the past two years because of his tendency to get in and then get out without converting a big score.

Will Pucovski, 22

Tests 1

First-class average 53.4

If Australia wants to retain Marcus Harris as an opener then it could slot Pucovski back in at No.5 given his supreme flexibility.

Will Pucovski made his Test debut in the third Test against India at the SCG. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Nic Maddinson, 29

Tests 3

First-class average 39.9

Selected for Australia A the past two summers after averaging 80.4 and 86.7 in his first two seasons for Victoria. Pulled out of the 2019 batting shootout against Pakistan to focus on his mental health.

… and Glenn Maxwell, 32

Tests 7

First class average 39.8

Resigned to thinking selectors have moved on, but would they ever reconsider plans to make Maxi a white-ball specialist after a Test summer gone wrong? The fear-factor batsman boasts a first-class average healthier than most.

Originally published as Glenn Maxwell admits his Test career is over and accepts where he sits in Australia’s pecking order