Ricky Ponting's truth bomb for Glenn Maxwell amid push for Test cricket recall
The former Australian cricket captain believes Glenn Maxwell doesn't deserve a Test recall.
Ricky Ponting has shut down Glenn Maxwell's long-held dreams of representing Australia again in Test cricket, saying "he doesn't deserve it". Maxwell starred in the recent Cricket World Cup and has long been viewed as a short-form star.
Despite being known for his white-ball cricket, Maxwell has played seven Tests for Australia from 2012 to 2017, all of which came on overseas tours. While he recently conceded the chances of him breaking back into the Test fold this summer were slim, Maxwell stated that he would be a real asset for the tour of Sri Lanka in 2025.
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The Aussie all-rounder said he was disappointed that he hasn't played a home Test series as he believes he has more to give in the five-day format and hopes he can get a chance to prove it. "Obviously, I would have loved to have played a Test at home," Maxwell told SEN Mornings.
"I haven’t given up, I think I’ve just got to be realistic about the timings of the way I’ve been playing my white-ball cricket,” Maxwell said. "You play a World Cup and then you don’t play any (Sheffield) Shield cricket. You play at the back end of summer in white ball (internationals) and don’t play any Shield cricket. So it’s just the way it’s gone over the last 10 years of my career really."
However, Ponting believes any player without current red-ball success at Sheffield Shield level doesn't deserve a call-up. "No one deserves a chance unless you’ve got a truckload of first-class runs behind you," Ponting told Channel 7. "He (Maxwell) doesn’t deserve it. But if he gets a chance to go back and make some first-class runs then he can force his way back in.”
Ponting's former Australian teammate Greg Blewett disagreed with his former captain, saying he deserves a shot regardless. "It's not his fault that he hasn’t played first-class cricket," Blewett said. "He’s good enough to be batting in the middle order, especially on a subcontinent tour.” Maxwell has played just a single Shield match since October 2019.
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The Australian all-rounder says he is aware that cracking the Test side will be difficult but believes he offers an X-factor on overseas tours and believes he should be given the chance when Australia tour the West Indies and Sri Lanka at the start of 2025. "I'm quite understanding the circumstances of the current side. They're playing some really good cricket, they’re World Test champions," Maxwell told SEN.
"There are not a lot of spots up for grabs as far as Tests at home, but I know that when it does come to a subcontinent tour I can be a real viable option to hopefully fill a role in that side. So, I'll keep trying to plug away and hopefully get an opportunity at that stage.
"But yeah, it would have been nice to play one at home, it's where I played all my First-Class cricket and it felt like I toiled away for a few years there. It's something that I wish I would have been able to do. But circumstances and timing I probably was more preferred in the white-ball area."
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