More attractive Major League Cricket will affect T20 Blast really badly, feels Glenn Maxwell
Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell believes the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA is "more attractive" than England's T20 Blast to some international stars because of the former's simpler and shorter schedule and bigger crowds. He complained about the excessive travel and less time between matches in the Blast.
Maxwell played for Birmingham Bears in this year's Blast, which was a nine-team tournament and involved at least 14 matches for each side. The Aussie, however, pulled out of The Hundred to manage his workload.
Meanwhile, the MLC is a six-team tournament, where each side plays the others once in the group stage followed by the playoffs.
"I think now the Major League Cricket tournament's come in, that's going to affect the Blast really badly," Maxwell said on BCC radio. "When you've got an opportunity to go over to America for two weeks, compared to 14 games here with a stressful schedule where you're travelling all over the place. There was one week where we played on a Tuesday in Durham, Thursday in Leeds and then Friday here in Birmingham - that's three games in four days with a day's travel in between."
"It can really drain you, your body and mentally," Maxwell added. "I found that very tough this year and I think with the Major League being a lot more attractive, bigger crowds, I think there's eight [six] overseas players per team, the excitement of a new tournament, it's only two weeks long. Less of a burden on your schedule. I think it's going a lot more attractive to some overseas players."
Maxwell didn't have the best of T20 Blast seasons with the Bears, scoring 248 runs from 14 matches at an average of 17.71, striking at 153.08.
Where is Glenn Maxwell currently?
Glenn Maxwell is playing in the County Championship in England for Warwickshire.
In his first match of the season, he scored a 67-ball 81, hitting 10 fours and two sixes. The knock, which came soon after Australia's loss in the third Ashes Test, sparked interest in him having an outside chance to be in the Aussie team.
The fourth Ashes Test of the five-match series will be played between July 19-23 in Manchester.