Nic Maddinson back for Australia but still out of favour with states
Nic Maddinson has been plucked from the wilderness to play for Australia again but it’s unlikely to help him get a state contract.
Cricket
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CRICKET Australia won’t help Nic Maddinson find a new home despite plucking the big-hitter from the wilderness to replace David Warner in a revamped Twenty20 outfit.
In a stunning dilemma for the game, Maddinson is once again considered to be of international standard by selectors, yet was bypassed by every single state for a domestic contract for the coming season.
Although Maddinson has a Big Bash League contract with the Melbourne Stars, it’s debatable whether Australian cricket boasts enough batting depth to be excluding a player of his ability from its state system.
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NSW Cricket has already announced their squad and won’t be revisiting their decision to cut Maddinson — a call made based on his low first-class numbers.
Cricket Australia has indicated it will stay out of the situation and won’t be trying to act as a mediator and convince other states to take on one of their best batting talents for the good of the national team.
Maddinson was playing Test cricket for Australia less than 18 months ago and is clearly a player selectors refuse to give up on.
“Nic has been selected off the back of a very good Big Bash season,” said T20 selector Mark Waugh of Maddinson’s shock selection for a tri-series against Zimbabwe and Pakistan in July.
“He is a very talented player and with his batting skills has the ability to be very dangerous in this format.”
The brutal predicament facing the 26-year-old in state recruitment has raised questions about whether Cricket Australia’s system for contracting is outdated and whether the state contracts should be split along white and red ball lines.
Maddinson was NSW’s one-day player of the year from the season just gone and one of the best performed 50-over batsmen of the past few years nationwide — yet won’t have a contract to play in October’s JLT one-day Cup.
Currently on holidays, Maddinson may have no choice but to move to Victoria, where he will be based for Big Bash, and work his way up through the Melbourne grade system and into contention for the Bushrangers one-day Cup campaign.
Twenty20 squad: Aaron Finch (capt), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth