Cricket news: Glenn Maxwell needs to grow up after Adelaide incident | Ben Horne

At first glance Glenn Maxwell’s Adelaide incident was another example of him shooting himself in the foot. But in reality his actions have impacted his teammates and he needs to make changes, writes BEN HORNE.

At first glance, Glenn Maxwell’s alcohol-induced hospitalisation in Adelaide was just another example of the cricket superstar unfortunately shooting himself in the foot.

The only victim was himself.

Beers and a hot day playing golf in Adelaide didn’t mix well for Maxwell, and the heavy drinking eventually caught up with him when he passed out and an ambulance was called to music venue, The Gov, where he had been watching cult cricket band Six and Out play a live gig.

There is no suggestion of anti-social behaviour of any kind, just like there wasn’t when he fell off the back of a golf cart and concussed himself at the World Cup, or broke his leg horsing around at a friend’s 50th birthday last year.

But the reality is Maxwell’s Series of Unfortunate Events has inadvertently impacted his teammates – or at least had the potential to – and for that reason more than any other, the 35-year-old needs to be accountable for his actions in Adelaide and grow up.

At 35-years of age, Glenn Maxwell needs to grow up, writes Ben Horne. Picture: Getty Images

Coach Andrew McDonald has introduced a player-led environment in the Australian camp, where senior stars are treated like adults and trusted to uphold expectations and perform, while being given the freedom to be themselves and prepare in their own individual way.

The model has proven highly successful for the World Test Championship, Ashes and World Cup victors, but the one thing that threatens it for everyone is if individuals can’t uphold their end of the bargain.

Most of the Australian Test team, including captain Pat Cummins were also at the Six and Out gig, and Maxwell’s behaviour risks a perception of some sort of alcohol-fuelled team activity, which was not actually the case.

Cricket Australia has been very clear in specifying that Maxwell was in Adelaide for a private golf event and did not arrive or leave with other players.

In other words, CA doesn’t want other players unfairly tarred with the same brush.

Cummins was clear that Maxwell must take ownership for his actions.

“I knew he was in town but I didn’t see Maxi at all,” Cummins said.

“ … I left pretty early.

“We’re all adults and part of being an adult is you make your own decisions and I suppose in this actual incident, he obviously wasn’t on tour with Australia, he was over there for a private event, he wasn’t with a cricket team, so it’s a little bit different but absolutely, any decision you make you’ve got to own it and be comfortable with it.”

Cummins said it’s “not for me to say” whether Maxwell had a problem with his judgement around alcohol.

Pat Cummins says Maxwell needs to own his decisions and take responsibility for his actions. Picture: Liam Kidston

Accidents happen, but the impact of Maxwell’s broken leg from more than 12 months ago is still being felt today, with the ongoing soreness from that incident the actual reason why he’s being rested from Australia’s upcoming ODI series against the West Indies.

When Australia’s most in-form matchwinner fell off the back of the golf cart just as the team was getting in its stride at the World Cup, ex-greats feared it was one of those headline grabbing mishaps that had the potential to derail the whole campaign.

It didn’t, because Australia was mentally strong enough to beat England without him, and then Maxwell – to his credit – defied cramps and all the odds to produce the greatest ODI innings of all time, an unbelievable 201 not out against Afghanistan.

Channel 7 expert and Test great Ricky Ponting said his first thought was for Maxwell’s wellbeing, but that he hopes the star can learn from what’s happened and not let it impact on what has been the crowning period of his Australian career.

“The first thing I heard he’d been taken away to hospital so the first thing that came to mind was hoping that he was OK. And it sounds like he is,” Ponting told this masthead.

“I don’t know much more about it. He had a golf day that day and then watching the boys’ band playing that night, and things obviously got out of hand a little bit there.

“It seems like this stuff has sort of been following him around a little bit doesn’t it, with the broken leg and then the World Cup thing and then now. Hopefully it’s just a string of unfortunate little incidents that have happened and he can try and keep himself out of those situations going forward.

“Because he’s obviously had probably the best 12-18 months of his cricketing life, when you look at it, what he was able to do in the World Cup. Hopefully he’s OK and he can just learn a few lessons along the way.”

Andrew McDonald’s player-led environment has proven highly successful, but the one thing that threatens it for everyone is if individuals can’t uphold their end of the bargain. Picture: Getty Images

Ponting had his own run-ins with alcohol, but the conspicuous difference is he was in his young to mid-20s and heeded those lessons to go on and become Australian captain and one of the game’s most distinguished leaders. Maxwell is 35.

Maxwell’s 2015 World Cup captain Michael Clarke – himself embroiled in a public incident last year – said on Sydney radio on Tuesday that he was “worried” by the star’s trip to hospital.

“To have to be put into an ambulance. That makes me nervous,” Clarke said on the Big Sports Breakfast.

“With these sort of things, with off-field stuff. I like to go, ‘Benefit of the doubt and innocent until proven guilty’.

“One thing I know, Cricket Australia will get to the bottom of it. These days there’s cameras, there’s people. So the truth will be told.

“The other thing we need to do is making sure he’s OK. He didn’t end up spending the night there (in hospital). I can’t think of a time where I’ve had to call an ambulance or an ambulance had to be called for me, no matter how drunk I was.

“So I’m worried is there more to this and I just hope he’s OK first and foremost.”

It’s unclear whether Maxwell will be reprimanded for his unfortunate night out in Adelaide, with Cricket Australia making it clear they aren’t investigating their star as such.

But they wouldn’t be doing their due diligence if they didn’t examine the Adelaide incident in the greater context of whether there is a longer-term pattern of behaviour at play.

Ricky Ponting had his own run-ins with alcohol in his young to mid-20s, but Maxwell is 35. Picture: Getty Images

Sources deny Maxwell was intoxicated when he fell off the golf cart in an incident Marcus Stoinis described as “boys being boys.”

When he broke his leg at the party, Maxwell denied he was drunk: “I probably wish I had been hammered for it.

“It was one of those incidents where I felt every part of it.”

When it comes to those two incidents, Maxwell may have been freakishly unlucky, but multiple sources connected to the Australian team have spoken to this masthead to concede – in a more general sense – Maxwell’s judgement with alcohol has been an issue in team environments for several years.

Having a few too many beers isn’t necessarily a crime, particularly in a sport like cricket when larrikins like David Boon, Doug Walters and Rod Marsh are celebrated for their love of a frothy.

When you’re the Big Show on the cricket field, it follows that in some ways it could be difficult not to occasionally be the Big Show by nature, when some of the features that make him who he is are part of his DNA.

Maxwell is one of the most unique and brilliant talents to play the game because he is bold, he’s brave, he’s adventurous, he’s extravagant, he’s a showman and a risk taker.

Shane Warne anyone?

Sometimes the special talents struggle to hide their flaws, and fans like that about them.

When Maxwell was a young kid coming through, it was noted that he was a unique personality.

And Australian cricket should be thankful that he has been a breath of fresh air in a sport that for some time had lost a lot of its personalities.

On a 2014 ODI tour of Zimbabwe, Maxwell was the only player to venture outside the safety net of the hotel’s cafe in the two weeks to get out and experience the wildlife and real Harare.

Maxwell clashed with former coaches Darren Lehmann and Justin Langer because he was often seen as a square peg not fitting into a round hole.

Under the freedoms and confidence instilled by McDonald, Maxwell has thrived on the field and his domineering performance at last year’s World Cup will define his Australian career.

However, Maxwell needs to be careful his behaviour doesn’t start to impact that freedom for other players to also benefit from and enjoy.

Originally published as Cricket news: Glenn Maxwell needs to grow up after Adelaide incident | Ben Horne