Glenn Maxwell must be picked by Australia for Cricket World Cup 2015, says Andrew Flintoff

ANDREW “Freddie” Flintoff says Australia must accept and embrace Glenn Maxwell - warts and all - for their upcoming World Cup campaign.

Glenn Maxwell catches Wells Picture:Wayne Ludbey

ANDREW “Freddie” Flintoff says Australia must accept and embrace Glenn Maxwell - warts and all - for its upcoming World Cup campaign.

Despite Maxwell’s awful form and probably the most embarrassing golden duck of all-time, former England skipper Flintoff says you must take the bad with the good.

Flintoff was gobsmacked when Maxwell had a brain fade, shouldered arms and was bowled by a straight ball in the Big Bash at the Gabba.

But he insists “The Big Show” is a must-have player for Australia in the big show of the upcoming World Cup.

THE MOST EMBARRASSING DISMISSAL EVER

Maxwell looks on in horror after leaving a ball that clean bowled him.

“In a World Cup he will win you one or two games, although he might be quiet in a few,” Flintoff said.

“He is a matchwinner and we have seen it in the past. Sometimes when he makes a mistake, it is going to look terrible.

“But with all the good things he does as a player, you can’t have it both ways.

“Sometimes you are going to get your horrendous (Maxwell) dismissals but on the flip side you are going to get special innings as well.

“He is a guy who is easy to heap criticism on, but I think that is unfair. He is an entertainer and crowds come out to watch him.”

Maxwell’s red-faced duck for Melbourne Stars against Brisbane Heat on Sunday night continued his terrible run of outs.

He has not scored more than 15 in his last 19 T20 matches and is paying a heavy toll for a year that included a staggering 51 Twenty20 games for four teams across six countries.

Maxwell has scored just 310 runs at an average of 11.07 in his last 28 T20 games for the Stars, Kings XI Punjab, Hampshire and Australia.

It is understood that in recent weeks he has been struggling with emotional turmoil following the tragic death of his great mate Phillip Hughes.

But Maxwell was making no excuses for his bizarre Gabba dismissal when he tweeted: ‘’Sorry Stars fans, dumb and s*it is the only way to describe tonight’s events.’’

The enigmatic batsman who has twice scooped $1 million Indian Premier League paydays must quickly find a way out of his form slump.

Andrew Flintoff believes Australia has to take Maxwell to the World Cup.

Flintoff is strongly backing him to return to the peak of his powers.

“The thing I like about Glenn as a player is that he is selfless,” Flintoff said.

“He goes out there and his goal is not his wicket, his goal is scoring runs for the team.

“It was a weird and strange dismissal. But he is too good a player to keep doing things like that.”

New Brisbane fast bowler Ryan Duffield was as astonished as everyone else when Maxwell let a straight ball clatter into his stumps.

“He left it which was handy,’’ Duffield smiled.

“I just tried to hit the top of off-stump and I was fortunate that he hopped out of the way and left it.”

The bizarre Maxwell dismissal was one of a terrific trio of wickets for Duffield who finished with 3-28 in the Heat’s win over the Stars.

It was only Duffield’s second game for the Heat since the former Perth Scorchers quick was signed from Western Australia.

Originally published as Glenn Maxwell must be picked by Australia for Cricket World Cup 2015, says Andrew Flintoff