“I’d love to say that I’d be a good chance”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has revealed that he has “absolutely no idea” if he will be picked for the Ashes against England in November.
Maxwell will definitely be one of the players in contention for the No.6 spot, especially after his impressive showing in India.
Faced with difficult conditions and a bowling attack that constantly looked threatening, Maxwell refused to be daunted by the task of playing in India.
In fact, he welcomed the challenge with open arms and even scored his maiden Test century in the third Test in Ranchi, before following it up with a knock of 45 in the second innings of the fourth Test in Dharamsala.
But, as for his chances of representing his country in the Ashes, Maxwell admitted that he isn’t sure what the national selectors have in mind.
“I’d love to say that I’d be a good chance, but I have absolutely no idea,” Maxwell told cricket.com.au. “I don’t know which way they’re thinking. We’ve seen in the past that they like to have a medium-pace all-rounder at No.6 and if they were to go that way in the first Test, I think that’d be fine.
“But if I was to get an opportunity to play a Test at home, I’d love to take it the same way I did in Ranchi and make the most of it.
“But I’m not trying to get my hopes up too much. If it happens, it happens. I’ll still train and work as hard as I can to play, but I’m probably not putting as much pressure on myself as I probably did in previous years.”
But, with the pace duo of Pat Cummins and James Pattinson having made their presence felt, there is talk about the Baggy Greens potentially fielding a five-man bowling attack as they look to regain the urn they lost in the UK in 2015.
For Maxwell, it is a prospect that excites him, even if it leads to him not being selected for the highly-anticipated series.
“There’s been a lot of chat about the big four quicks playing in the same team and we might even see that in the first Test,” he said. “It’d be pretty exciting and I’m sure England would be under a bit of pressure with those four guys bowling 140-plus and then you have Nathan Lyon as the spinner.
“I think that’d be a pretty amazing line-up to watch Australia roll out.”
In the two Tests he played against India, Maxwell bowled a total of six overs as captain Steve Smith opted to keep reverting back to frontline spinner Nathan Lyon.
When asked about this, Maxwell backed Smith’s decision, and said: “Nathan Lyon was bowling really well (in the Tests and if you take Nathan Lyon off and bring on a different off-spinner, there’s a chance to release that pressure.
“And he was so good at building that pressure so I completely understood why I wasn’t bowling, there was no issue for me.
“I’d love to be bowling for Australia, but I can understand the times I don’t.”