Victoria’s Nic Maddison overlooked for Ashes squad despite purple patch

One of Australian cricket’s most consistent performers has yet again been overlooked for the Test side despite another purple patch.

Nic Maddinson of Victoria. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

When national selectors rushed Nic Maddinson into the Australian Test squad five years ago, his first-class batting average hovered around the mid-30s.

It was undeniably a premature introduction to the international arena; a selection made based on potential rather than proven talent.

He was dropped after three Tests, during which he failed to reach fifty. The New South Wales Blues delisted him less than two years later.

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But since he migrated to Victoria in 2018, Maddinson has averaged 63.41 with the bat in the Sheffield Shield.

The swashbuckling left-hander has flourished into one of the competition’s most consistent performers, yet even though he’s currently in career-best form, there’s still no room for Maddinson in Australia’s Test side.

A 15-player squad for the first two Ashes Tests was unveiled on Wednesday morning, with Queensland’s Usman Khawaja and South Australia’s Travis Head poised to fight over the vacant No. 5 spot.

Victoria’s Marcus Harris, who averages 23.77 with the bat at Test level, will open the batting alongside David Warner at the Gabba.

Harris has only reached double figures once in four Sheffield Shield knocks this summer, albeit converting his lone start into a century.

Meanwhile, Maddinson was named in the Australia A squad that will play an internal trial match in Brisbane on December 1-3 before taking on the England Lions the following week.

The 29-year-old was selected on the back of another purple patch in the Sheffield Shield — he was named Player of the Match following a classy 87 against New South Wales at Drummoyne Oval last month.

Maddinson then plundered 128 against the Blues at the MCG last week, putting him in the frame for a Test recall.

But George Bailey and his national selection panel have instead opted for Khawaja and Head, who have also been in impeccable form this summer.

Nic Maddinson has represented Victoria since 2018. Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images

“My goal is still to play Test cricket again,” Maddinson told SEN last month.

“Whether that comes in the next year or the next three years or never comes at all, that’s fine as long as I’m pursuing that. I think that’s the main focus.

“If you have a good start to the season and you have a good 12 months, you’re always in selectors’ minds. It’s something that you definitely think about.”

In 2018, Maddinson joined an illustrious list of cricketers to score a century on Sheffield Shield debut for two separate states after smacking 162 in his first outing for Victoria.

He was the following year named joint player of the 2019/20 season after finishing as the tournament’s highest run-scorer.

National selectors rewarded Maddinson’s form by including him in the Australia A squad to face Pakistan in November 2019, but he withdrew from the three-day match to seek help with mental health issues.

“The experiences I’ve had over the past couple of years, I did take a couple of breaks from cricket to get a few things right and I feel like I’m in a really good place,” Maddinson said recently.

“It wasn’t a very successful stint at Test cricket, but I understand that environment a little bit better, and I think now I’m mature enough to know that I can deal with those things.

“I want to be playing Test cricket again, so of course you’re going to have interest and be thinking about that at different stages.”

Nick Maddinson has to be a show to bat 5 in the First #Ashes test. Form over the past few years has been outstanding. @cricketcomau

— Chadd Sayers (@Chaddsayers27) November 5, 2021

Victorian coach Chris Rogers believes Maddinson’s improvement with the bat stems from greater maturity as a cricketer.

“It’s one of those things, you get to the second half of your career and you start to probably look at things differently,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“You think more about your game, how you’re structuring your innings, all those kind of things. You probably balance your personal life out a bit as well.

“He just seems really calm, that’s the thing that stands out for me. From the innings I’ve seen this year he’s been completely calm from ball one, and he’s looked like a senior player, an old pro, and that doesn’t come easily.

“That takes a lot of time and experience, and he’s been fantastic. He has led the way with the batting on the field.”

The first Ashes Test is scheduled to get underway on Wednesday, December 8 at the Gabba.