Glenn Maxwell in frame for shock Sri Lanka Test comeback after World Cup heroics

Glenn Maxwell’s batting heroics made headlines around the globe this week, but it is another facet of his game that may nab ‘The Big Show’ a baggy green, writes BEN HORNE.

Glenn Maxwell’s white ball hurricane against Afghanistan might have blown open the door to a fairytale farewell Test tour.

It’s understood Maxwell’s name has been mentioned in Australia’s preliminary planning for the next subcontinental Test tour of Sri Lanka in early 2025.

Maxwell thought his dream of a Test recall was extinguished forever earlier this year when his almost certain selection for the four-Test tour of India was cruelled by a freak broken leg accident suffered at a mate’s 50th birthday.

Previous to that, Maxwell appeared set to crack a place in the Test XI on the 2022 tour of Sri Lanka, only to miss out at the last minute.

Maxwell would be 36 when the team is chosen to play two Tests in Sri Lanka in late January and February 2025, having played the last of his seven Test matches more than six years ago against Bangladesh in Chittagong.

The superstar all-rounder has enhanced his reputation as one of the game’s great entertainers with his staggering performances at the ODI World Cup in India.

Glenn Maxwell celebrates after guiding Australia to victory over Afghanistan with an unbeaten double century. Picture: AFP

Maxwell’s record-breaking 201 not out against Afghanistan which handed Australia victory from an almost impossible position will go down in history, not to mention his blistering 106 off just 44 balls in a previous match against the Netherlands.

But Test cricket is the format Maxwell has never conquered and it remains an itch he would desperately love to scratch, even if he’s unlikely to play much, if any Sheffield Shield cricket between now and early 2025.

Maxwell’s dynamic and innovative batting in the middle-order is one thing, but it’s his extremely handy off-spin which excites Australian selectors about his potential impact on a Test series, even at this late stage of his career.

Australia drew 1-1 with Sri Lanka back in 2022, and prior to that were smashed by the home side in an away series in 2016.

It has proven a very difficult place to win.

Although there is a lot of water to go under the bridge before Australia tours Sri Lanka again in 2025 (including a five-Test home series against India in 2024-25), Maxwell remains firmly in the pre-planning thoughts of selectors.

The fact he is still on the radar is intriguing in the sense Maxwell would be one of the prime international targets for T20 franchises looking to establish a new cricketing world order.

Glenn Maxwell last Test appearance was against Bangladesh in 2017. Picture: Getty Images

If, as many are predicting, the game transforms in the next couple of years and it is IPL giants who becoming the primary employers of cricketers, not their countries, and line them up to play in sister franchise leagues around the globe – teams would be queuing up for Maxwell’s signature.

But Maxwell has indicated in the past that taking a shot at unfinished business for Australia in Test cricket would take precedence over big money.

When Maxwell was a late scratching from a Test in Sri Lanka in 2022 he laid bare his desperation to wear the baggy green again.

“I had no thoughts in my mind that I was going to be playing Test cricket, or even be involved, and I was sort of at peace,” Maxwell said at the time.

“Then, as soon as I got told I was going to be involved, new emotions sort of came back from when I was last in a Test squad and the excitement of being back around the group … and I thought, ‘I feel like I’m ready’.”

New Zealand commentator Ian Smith, who called the moment Maxwell brought up his iconic double hundred against Afghanistan, said if the Victorian was playing for England – or just about any other nation on earth other than Australia – he would be playing Test cricket.

“Baz would have picked him, I know that,” Smith said of England coach, Brendon McCullum.

“I know Brendon McCullum, I haven‘t heard anything come from him but I’m sure he’ll have a quote or two about that innings because he would have sat there bewildered.”