With a T20 World Cup at home appearing, Glenn Maxwell’s form will be pivotal to Australia defending their title while Hazlewood said that the aggressive middle-order allows Maxwell to play openly and instinctively, and how he’s at his best while doing that.
With a T20 World Cup at home appearing, Glenn Maxwell’s form will be pivotal to Australia defending their title. But at the moment, the all-rounder seems to be a bit off with the bat, having returned single digits scores in his last six T20Is.
Maxwell was back in the Australian side for the second T20I against England in Canberra however scored just eight runs in a loss that saw the guests take the series with a game to go. Another low score implied that Maxwell has now counted just 16 runs off 33 balls in his last six innings at this level.
“I’ve played a lot with Glenn lately, in particular at RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and the Australian team, and in all three aspects of the game he’s outstanding,”
Hazlewood said in Canberra after Australia’s defeat.
“He’s just that close to winning a game for us off his own bat or the ball or in the field. So he’s a key part of our team and just adds that balance beautifully.”
Hazlewood said that the aggressive middle order allows Maxwell to play openly and instinctively and that he’s at his best while doing that.
“You don’t want him going away from his instinct either,”
Hazlewood said.
“He’s the sort of a player that just reacts to what’s coming and plays his game and that’s the one thing you want from Glenn all the time.
“Having that depth of batters, I think adds to that. He can just go out and play his game, whether it’s in the first six overs or outside that against spin – where he’s in particular pretty destructive. So I think he just (needs a) free mindset and (to) play his game.”
Australia takes on England in the third T20I in Canberra on October 14. The hosts play their first World Cup game against New Zealand in Sydney on October 22.
England Squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali (vice-captain), Phil Salt, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, Mark Wood
Australia Squad: Aaron Finch (captain), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Josh Inglis, Matthew Wade, Daniel Sams, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson