‘Not fair on fans’: Former skipper Allan Border slams ‘ridiculous’ one day rotation policy after Maxwell pulled from West Indies matches

Former Aussie captain Allan Border has questioned how much rest our superstars need after another big name in World Cup hero Glenn Maxwell was pulled from the upcoming ODI series against the West Indies.

Allan Border believes the resting of senior cricketers has gone too far.

Australia announced on Monday that Glenn Maxwell was joining Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh as the latest superstar being “managed” out of the upcoming three-match ODI series against the West Indies.

While the West Indies might not be feared opposition, it’s a massive blow to home fans in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, and broadcasters Fox Sports, for Australia to roll out a depleted XI for what are the only one-day internationals on home soil this summer.

Border can see the positives in blooding new-generation talents such as Jake Fraser-McGurk but questions why star players are able to sit out so many international matches for their country and still collect a full salary.

“I don’t want to be a dinosaur with all this sort of stuff because I get it,” Fox Cricket expert Border said.

“But I think you should be trying to play your best side as much as possible.

“It’s not fair on fans, it’s not fair on me as a television watcher.

“It does give you an opportunity to see some fresh faces in there that you mightn’t have seen a lot of, so that’s the one positive that comes out of it, but it’s just ridiculous this rest, rotation.

Glenn Maxwell will miss Australia’s upcoming series against the West Indies due to Cricket Australia’s rotation policy. Picture: Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP.

“Mentally, yeah, the guys get a little bit jaded at times with the touring around and the relentless play, practice, fly … but there are a lot of people out there doing it pretty tough.

“Then just from the commercial realities, you have Fox putting a lot of money in. There are a lot of people that have investment in the game.

“When you’re not playing your best team, I don’t know, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth that, firstly, you’re not respecting the West Indies … and if you get rested, you still get paid full odds.

“There’s no pain in the game, is there?

“On the surface of it, I get it. You want to keep your blokes fresh. But what’s in front of these guys? How much rest do you need?”

Cricket Australia has introduced a mechanism in which it has the option to dock the salary of stars who miss matches for Australia to play in Twenty20 franchise leagues.

However, that doesn’t appear to apply for managing players through the schedule, even though part of that schedule includes the upcoming Indian Premier League in March.

On Monday, selectors called in Brisbane Heat fast bowler Xavier Bartlett to replace the injured Jhye Richardson, while the exciting Fraser-McGurk will take the place of World Cup hero Maxwell.

It remains to be seen how much more ODI cricket the likes of Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Maxwell play after last year’s World Cup triumph.

A generational upheaval may be under way.

David Warner has retired from the format and Marcus Stoinis was not selected for this series.

Border said Fraser-McGurk could become the new Maxwell – a box-office, white-ball superstar.

“I like what I see as far as just raw talent,” Border said. “That bat speed that he generates.

“He’s brilliant in the field. He can bring a lot to the table and I think that selection is good. I applaud that.

“When he starts to learn that every ball doesn’t have to go for six – 50m back – he’ll be a very dangerous talent.”

Every ball of the Brisbane Test and the entire cricket summer is live and ad-break free on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.