By Ian Omoro
Glenn Maxwell’s hamstring injury sustained against Pakistan in Hobart has dashed his ambitions of returning to first-class cricket prior to Australia’s trip to Sri Lanka. Maxwell might miss up to a month of action, which would prevent him from playing in either of Victoria’s next two Sheffield Shield games and leave him with little time to be ready for the Melbourne Stars to start the Big Bash League (BBL).
Maxwell has been diagnosed with a grade two hamstring strain after limping off during Monday night’s Pakistani innings. In addition, he had been considered for a Shield appearance in one of Victoria’s two forthcoming matches against Queensland, as well as the Prime Minister’s XI for the two-day pink-ball match against India in Canberra in between the first and second Tests.
While missing those games won’t end Maxwell’s chances of playing Test cricket again in Sri Lanka, it was seen as a chance to demonstrate that he could handle the demands of four-day cricket after suffering a severe leg break in 2022. Encouraged by a lengthy stint in the field, he played his first red-ball match in more than a year by playing for Victoria’s Second XI against Queensland last month.
In 2017, Maxwell played his final seven Test matches for Australia during a tour of Bangladesh. However, he was devastated when he missed playing against Sri Lanka on the 2022 tour and made a rare appearance for the Victorian second XI last month to subject his body to four days of consecutive cricket.
After battling the complications of his horrific broken leg in 2022, he disclosed in August that talks with the national selectors regarding a possible Test return had gone well, but he still needed to demonstrate that he could manage the physical demands of a game.
“They’ve been pretty open to selecting outside the box for players who do well in those conditions, and knowing what it’s like in Sri Lanka, I don’t think Shield form is going to be a huge factor in how someone is going to go over there,” Maxwell said in a press conference.
Head coach Andrew McDonald indicated Maxwell was definitely in the running, but selectors chair George Bailey earlier stated that they would make specialized selections for Sri Lanka and that, given the significant variations in conditions, performances in shield cricket would not be the deciding factor.
Australia is anticipated to have a 10-day lead-up before the first Test in Sri Lanka begins on January 29. As a result, individuals chosen for the tour will not be able to attend the BBL finals or possibly the late regular-season matches.
