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Maxwell overlooked for ODI series against England

by Sandeep Shivam Wednesday 3 January 2018

Glenn Maxwell has played 80 ODIs for Australia

©REUTERS

Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has been left out of the squad for the upcoming five-match One-Day International series against England to be played later this month.

Maxwell had impressive performances in the first-class games for Victoria where he had knocks of 64, unbeaten 45, 278 and 96 in four games and even notched a half-century for his Big Bash League franchise Melbourne Stars in the recently concluded encounter against Brisbane Heat.

However, skipper Steven Smith stressed on the lack of consistency of Maxwell and urged the 29-year-old to continue working hard on his game.

“We’ve all seen the way he can come out and play, all his funky stuff and he’s pretty cool with that,” Smith told reporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

”But when he puts his head down, he’s actually a really good batsman. If he keeps his head switched on, and trains really well, and focuses on basic things probably more than expansive things, then I think that’ll help him have his consistency.

“If he can find that consistency, he’s certainly a guy you’d want in your team.”

Also returning to the squad after seven years is wicket-keeper batsman Tim Paine, who replaces Matthew Wade in the squad.

Paine, who had already taken Wade's spot in the Test and Twenty20 International squads will now look to add to his 26-ODI appearances.

“Tim forced his way into the Twenty20 international squad last summer and after coming back into the test squad at the beginning of the Ashes series he has made a terrific contribution,” said head selector Trevor Hohns.

“He deserves his opportunity in this form of the game and the challenge for Matthew is to return to the type of form that saw him score a one-day international hundred against Pakistan last summer.”

Australia ODI squad:

Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa