Steve Smith states the reason behind Glenn Maxwell's exclusion from the ODI squad

Recently in the day, Australia announced a 14-man ODI squad for the upcoming limited overs series against England at home. The big name missing from the bunch of guys was of big-hitting batsman Glenn Maxwell who was ignored for the series after a string of low scores in the recent games. His inconsistency and a shorter stay at the crease are termed as the major reasons for his exclusion. Aussie captain Steve Smith gave a detailed reasoning on dropping Maxwell from the limited overs team.

The limited-overs leg of the series against the Englishmen includes some of the specialist players in this format of the game. Fast bowlers Jhye Richarson and Andrew Tye have been combined with the experienced trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Patt Cummins. The Aussie team management are also welcoming the explosive striker Chris Lynn and keeper Tim Paine who have been included in the side in place of Maxwell and out of form keeper Mathew Wade.

He needs to train smartly and put his head down

Smith feels that Maxwell needs to play and train a bit more smartly and the main point of focus should be on improving his consistency in the shorter format of the game. He also commended the batsman for putting his head down in the right way during Sheffield Shield games which helped him to increase the persistence. The skipper stated that proper training and sticking to basic things will be the appropriate measures for the big-hitting batsman to make a comeback into the national team.

He could train a little bit smarter. When he puts his head down he’s actually a really good batsman, as we’ve seen in Shield cricket. If he keeps his head switched on and trains really well and focuses on basic things, probably more than the expansive things, then I think that will help him have his consistency,” said Smith revealing the reasons for Maxwell’s omission from the squad as quoted by the New Daily.

He is still in the scheme of things

The Aussie skipper and the team management are currently trying to figure out the best possible combination for the big title defense in the 2019 World Cup in England. The No 1 Test batsman mentioned that even after averaging poorly in the recent ODI games, Maxwell is still absolutely in the scheme of things for the big tournament to be played next year. He also revealed that the big-hitting right-hander has the potential and ability to contribute more than his recent numbers are suggesting.

“In his past 20 matches in this format he has averaged 22 and we need more than that from a player in the side’s batting engine room.Glenn is still absolutely in our thoughts but for this series we have decided to look again at Chris Lynn,” added the Aussie captain.

We bring to you all the latest ‘cricket news‘ and updates on CricTracker