Steve Smith is quite laid back: Glenn Maxwell

Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell has finally given his comparison between the two Australian skippers he has played under. The 27-year old, who not plays for the Kings XI Punjab, has said that Steve Smith is much more laid back compared to former Aussie skipper Michael Clarke. The latter was Maxwell’s first captain when he began his international career.

“Steve is quite laid back. He doesn’t shy away from asking anyone to come to the bar for a drink, talk about the game or just chill out,” Maxwell told Australian Associated Press. “He gets his back up when we aren’t playing well and gives a decent spray but he’s very outgoing and still one of the boys.”

Despite the aforementioned comments, Glenn Maxwell has stated that Clarke was tactically brilliant and an amazing professional of the sport.

“Whereas I think Clarke was the ultimate professional, tactically brilliant and everyone looked up to him. But he didn’t really have that same personal side. For me as a young person, I sort of felt like he wanted to keep himself as the captain and make sure people knew that. There’s no right or wrong way to go about it, they’re all just trying to get the best out of people in different ways… and you still see bits of ‘Pup’ (Clarke) in Steve as well.”

2013 wasn’t the best of cricketing seasons in Australian cricket following the loss of the ashes and the whitewash at the hands of India in the subcontinent. The ‘homeworkgate’ scandal saw Mickey Arthur lose his job.

“There was a fair bit of panic in 2013… it will be a little bit more relaxed and a bit more calm,” Maxwell said of Australia’s next tour of India, scheduled next year. “When there are on-field or off-field issues, they’ll be dealt with a lot better. Everyone understands that now. It makes it a lot more easy to act like an adult if you get treated like one.”

“Other than making my debut and taking my first wicket, I try to forget most of the other things about that tour,” Maxwell said. “It was a bit of a disaster. It felt like everyone was sort of walking on eggshells. It wasn’t enjoyable. I’d given everything. Took four-for and felt like I got better the more I bowled, so to get dropped hurt a fair bit. It was tough to deal with, especially then coming back for the last Test when I felt I didn’t deserve to play. It was just a strange time.”

Finally, speaking of the future, Maxwell said that he’d love to be on the upcoming Caribbean tour. “I’d love to be on that tour. It’s one that I’ve looked at with a lot of interest,” Maxwell said. “I was ready for the postponed tour of Bangladesh last year and I certainly feel as ready I can be for Sri Lanka.”