Australia News: Injury dents Glenn Maxwell’s Shield hopes as he leaves BBL race

Maxwell limped off during Pakistan’s innings on Monday night and was diagnosed with a grade two hamstring injury. He had also been in the Prime Minister’s XI frame for the two-day pink-ball match against India in Canberra between the first and second Tests, along with a possible Shield exit in one of Victoria’s next two matches against Queensland .

While missing those matches is not terminal to Maxwell’s hopes of returning to Test cricket in Sri Lanka, they were seen as an opportunity to further prove that he can withstand the rigors of four-day cricket following his badly broken leg in 2022. He played his first red-ball game in more than a year last month when he featured in Victoria’s Second XI against Queensland and was buoyed by a long spell on the field.

“I think if I gave up on that Test dream now, I don’t think I’d be doing justice to that younger Glenn Maxwell who was dying to wear the baggy green as a kid,” Maxwell told ESPNcricinfo last month. . “And I think as long as there’s still a glimmer of hope, I’ll keep going.”

Former Australia captain Aaron Finch does not believe the latest injury will change whether Maxwell is selected for Sri Lanka or not.

“I don’t think it makes any difference,” Finch told the ESPN show. Around the gate. “The little red-ball cricket that Maxi has played for probably the last five years, if they want to pick him, they’ll pick him anyway, and it’s not about whether he goes and gets runs in Shield cricket. I don’t think that comes into play because It’s the skill set he has: he’s very good against spin, he’s very versatile, [and] “Your side hustle is better than part-time.”

Chairman of selectors George Bailey previously said they would make specialist selections for Sri Lanka and that performances in Shield cricket would not be the predominant factor given the vast differences in conditions, while head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that Maxwell was firmly in the mixture.

“I think the ability to play in that horizontal plane, sweep and reverse sweep, is going to be a critical skill if the conditions are extreme,” McDonald said. “He [Maxwell] Does he fit that profile? 100 percent fits that profile.

“The big challenge for Maxi is clearly the body and whether he can get through Test cricket, and what that will look like on the back of BBL. “With Maxi, it’s him playing, seeing how he stops and then making the next decision on the one behind that injury he had.”

The first Test in Sri Lanka begins on January 29 and Australia is expected to have 10 days’ notice, meaning those selected for the tour will miss the BBL finals and potentially the final matches of the regular season.

The Melbourne Stars’ first BBL match is the opening match of the tournament against the Perth Scorchers on December 15.