Adelaide: Former Australian limited-overs cricketer David Hussey is surprised with the limited opportunities given to Glenn Maxwell in the Asian sub-continent despite the all-rounder being an asset in the white-ball games for the country.The 33-year-old Maxwell has played just seven Tests since debuting in 2013, with the Cricket Australia selection panel citing his aggressive batting as the reason for his non-inclusion in the longest format.
But with the busy sub-continental schedule in 2022, where Australia plays Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and India in a variety of formats, Hussey, who is coach of Big Bash League (BBL) side Melbourne Stars, asked the selectors to give Maxwell more opportunities in Tests as well.
Maxwell averages 26 in Tests and it has been reported that the selectors will consider him to play Tests for Australia on the sub-continental tours.
Even Maxwell has been quoted as saying that he would like to be on the Test side. I think it’s definitely realistic (wanting to play Test cricket again). I think I’m probably playing as well as I ever have at the moment, he said recently.
Hussey told Sportsday on Friday that, I’m staggered by how little Test cricket he’s (Maxwell) played, especially in the sub-continent. Arguably, and I’m a little bit biased here, I think he’s one of the better players of spin in the country.
I know the upcoming winter we have got a lot of sub-continent tours ahead, so I do believe that he should be in all those touring squads. I think he should add to his (several) Tests for Australia, I think he’s in career-best form and it would be the wrong move to write him off now from playing Test cricket again.
Maxwell has played all his Tests in Asia with the last coming in 2017.
Meanwhile,
Australia’s regular Test captain Pat Cummins has been allowed to fly to his home in New South Wales after missing the second Ashes Test at Adelaide, said Cricket Australia (CA) on Friday.
Cummins was ruled out of the Adelaide Test due to being deemed a close contact of a COVID-19 positive person while dining with fellow New South Wales and Adelaide Strikers fast bowler Harry Conway at Little Hunter Steakhouse on the eve of the ongoing Test.
Pat Cummins has been granted approval by SA Health to return home to NSW. Under the plan approved by SA Health, he will self-drive from isolation and then, with the appropriate PPE and hygiene controls, take a single charter flight, read a statement from CA.
Cricket Australia will continue to consult with SA Health to ensure compliance with the plan. He will continue to observe all isolation requirements in NSW. Cummins produced a negative test result on Thursday, further said the statement.
The news will be seen as a relief for the Australian team, who feared for Cummins being isolated in a hotel room for seven days, especially with the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne starting from December 26.