“There's not a lot of spots up for grabs” - Glenn Maxwell doesn’t see himself playing a home Test
Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has candidly admitted that his hopes of playing a Test match at home are as good as over. Stating that there are not too many places up for grabs, he, however, asserted that he is still hopeful of playing red-ball cricket for Australia in the subcontinent.
The 35-year-old has played only seven Test matches in his international career, the last of which came in 2017. Incidentally, all of his Test appearances have come in the subcontinent. While Maxwell has not played the red ball format for a few years for Australia, some chatter about his possible recall started doing the rounds following his ODI World Cup exploits in India.
Maxwell, though, was not picked in the Australian Test squad for the first match against Pakistan, which will be played in Perth from December 14-18. Speaking to SEN Radio, the all-rounder shared his thoughts on his Test hopes.
“Obviously, I would have loved to have played a Test at home. I'm quite understanding the circumstances of the current side. They're playing some really good cricket, they’re World Test champions,” Maxwell said.
“I don't think there's another subcontinent tour until early 2025. So, I'll keep trying to plug away and hopefully get an opportunity at that stage. But yeah, it would have been nice to play one at home, it's where I played all my First-Class cricket and it felt like I toiled away for a few years there," the all-rounder continued.
“It's something that I wish I would have been able to do. But circumstances and timing I probably was more preferred in the white-ball area,” he went on to add.
Australia are scheduled to tour Sri Lanka in February 2025 for a two-match Test series.
Glenn Maxwell’s Test career at a glance
In seven Tests, Maxwell has scored 339 runs at a disappointing average of 26.07. The right-handed batter made his Test debut against India in Hyderabad in March 2013, registering scores of 13 and 8.
The white ball star’s only Test ton came in India in March 2017 when he scored 104 off 185 balls in Ranchi in a drawn encounter. His last Test was against Bangladesh in September 2017. The batter scored 38 and 25* in Australia’s seven-wicket win.
With his off-spin, Maxwell has claimed eight wickets in Tests at an average of 42.62, with a best of 4/127.