Advertisement

Maxwell calls an end to the Big Show

With every mature knock that doubles as a step towards a Test recall, Glenn Maxwell grows more and more tired of his reputation.

Jan 18, 2016, updated Jan 18, 2016
Glenn Maxwell plays a reverse sweep infront of MS Dhoni during his match-saving ODI innings. Photo: Mal Fairclough, AAP.

Glenn Maxwell plays a reverse sweep infront of MS Dhoni during his match-saving ODI innings. Photo: Mal Fairclough, AAP.

Maxwell has long wanted to shed the ‘Big Show’ tag.

Increasingly there have been actions to back up the words.

Take, for example, his 96 against India at the MCG last night, which gave Australia an unassailable 3-0 lead in the ongoing five-match ODI series.

There were audacious sixes and a couple of reverse-sweeps in the man-of-the-match dig but loads of substance to back up the style.

“Early on in my career I probably got a little bit too excited about trying to score at 150 strike-rate every game and trying to be the match-winner,” Maxwell said of his transition from funky slogger to formidable batsman.

“I didn’t really finish the job a whole lot.

“Over the last few months … it’s probably clicked a little bit.

“It’s been a massive work in progress.

“I’ve been doing some stuff off the field as well – more around the mental side of the game … that’s probably been one of the key things I’ve changed.”

Maxwell acknowledged that adding to the three Tests he played between 2013 and 2014 is the end goal of the ongoing reinvention.

“It’s a long process though,” he added.

“It’s not going to happen overnight with one innings. It’s going to have to be a slow grind.

“Hopefully people will start to forget about the stupid nicknames and all that sort of thing and the hype and the trick shots.

“Hopefully in the next few years I can really show that and hopefully find a way back into that Test team.”

Maxwell’s public figure has been cartoonish and far from complimentary for so much of his 58-ODI career.

Many have highlighted the allrounder’s million-dollar IPL contracts, the perception of arrogance and a lack of runs to back up the supposed bluster.

It burns Maxwell, much more than when he burst onto the scene.

“It’s probably more difficult in the street and stuff like that. In public when people yell stuff out,” the 27-year-old said.

“I probably dealt with it a lot better early on.

“I feel like I’ve had big strides … I’ve done a lot of good things in first-class cricket and I feel like I still can’t really shake it.

“It hurts. It gets to you. But changing that is not going to be an overnight thing.”

-AAP

Topics: ODI
Local News Matters
Advertisement
Copyright © 2024 InDaily.
All rights reserved.