Ricky Ponting: “He’s probably felt that he’s had to live up to that”

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Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes that all-rounder Glenn Maxwell’s ‘Big Show’ nickname is hindering his ability to live up to expectations.

Ponting’s comments come after Maxwell was dropped from Australia’s ODI squad for the upcoming series against England, which starts on January 14 in Melbourne.

Explaining why Maxwell had been removed from the ODI team, Australia skipper Steve Smith admitted that the 29-year-old needs to “train a little bit smarter”.

Providing his own input, Ponting was quoted by Fox Sports Australia as saying: “That ‘Big Show’ name was bandied around for a long time and of course he hates it but at different times he’s probably felt that he’s had to live up to that with the way he’s played his cricket as well.

“Little battles that people probably don’t understand that you’re constantly fighting as a player that’s trying to make a name and a reputation for himself. Things like that he’s probably been trying to fight against for 10 years of playing representative cricket.”

Ponting also said that he hopes Smith spoke to Maxwell prior to making the comments.

“I don’t mind it if he said it to him first,” the 43-year-old said. “If it’s something that Glenn’s heard before and he’s not surprised to actually pick up the newspaper or pick up his phone and see that it’s been talked about in a press conference, I think that’s one of the great challenges with captaincy.

“Player management and man management, those things should never be spoken about out of school but we’ll see. It’s going to be about how he responds now. All he can do now is put runs on the board and do it with the class that has got.

“There’s no doubt about it, he’s got a lot of class as a batsman and in the field and with the ball so it’s a very good all-round package. He just needs to string a few good performances together and I’m sure his name will be back up in front of the selectors in no time.”