Glenn Maxwell scored his first Test century in three years against India. (Source: AP)
Glenn Maxwell has left no stone unturned in his bid to prepare for the upcoming Bangladesh Test series later this month which can eventually help him cement his place in the Australia Test side. The hard-hitting middle order batsman is also eyeing this series to make his case for the Ashes series against England later this year.
While his teammates have gone for a lighter workout in the past few months, Maxwell has gone the “other way” and has hit the tracks hard to prepare himself.
“I’ve probably gone the other way,” Maxwell was quoted as saying bu cricket.com.au from the national team’s pre-tour training camp in Darwin. “Over the last month, I’ve hit the training track pretty hard and just tried to do everything humanly possible to be ready to go once I came up here.”
The 28-year-old was part of Australia’s ‘A’ team which was supposed to tour South Africa but that tour was cancelled due to the pay dispute between Cricket Australia and the players’ association. Maxwell headed to Victoria in the meantime.
“I’ve been running a fair bit and batting as much as I can, as well as working on my bowling, and just trying to basically get ready for whatever cricket I have to come,” he said.
The last couple of years were not the most ideal ones for Maxwell as he failed to score a single century in Test cricket. He was part of the Australia squad that visited India earlier this year but got an opportunity in the third Test in Ranchi when Mitchell Marsh got injured. He made it count and scored a century, his first in Test in three years.
“I was extremely proud of being able to come back into the team and perform as well as I did that first innings back in the Test side,” Maxwell said. “That was something I hold very close to my heart and it gave me a lot of confidence going forward.”
Australia play their first Test against Bangladesh from August 27.
Australia squad: Steve Smith, David Warner, Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade.
