MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Explosive Australia batsman Glenn Maxwell is eyeing a stint in English county cricket to further his test ambitions after missing out on a place in the tour squads for the Caribbean and England.
Maxwell scored 324 runs at an average of 64.80 in Australia’s triumphant World Cup campaign and had hoped his performances might have led to a recall.
However, selectors went with uncapped 35-year-old Adam Voges for the tours from June to August after the right-hander piled on a mountain of runs for Western Australia in the domestic Sheffield Shield.
“I was hoping my performances against international attacks would hold me in good stead,” the 26-year-old told Cricket Australia’s website (cricket.com.au).
“I thought I played quite well in the World Cup and a couple of games before that.
“I felt like I was in a good headspace in as far as international cricket goes.
“I knew I hadn’t played a whole lot of red ball (test) cricket, so I was hoping the fact that I’d been playing international cricket for Australia and that was the reason I was missing Shield cricket would hold me in good stead.
“But obviously not, and I’ve just got to keep finding a way to try and play some red ball cricket.”
BRIEF TEST FORAYS
One of the world’s top one-day batsmen, Melbourne man Maxwell can quickly bring an attack to its knees when on song, and boasts a dazzling array of 360-degree shots.
His forays into the test side have been brief and unsuccessful, however.
Maxwell struggled in two tests in 2013 against India and was brought back for one match against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates last year but dropped from the squad for Australia’s 2-0 series win over India in the home summer.