Glenn Maxwell. (Phoot Source: Disney+Hotstar)
The star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has opened up about his desire to play for Australia for as long as possible. The 34-year-old believes that his experience makes him a worthwhile proposal beyond the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Among his former teammates, ex-captain Aaron Finch called time on his international career earlier in 2023, while star opener David Warner intends to wrap up his Test career this summer. Marcus Stoinis, Steven Smith, and Mitchell Marsh, among others, are all in their 30s. While Marsh has been designated as the new captain and will also serve as the ODI team’s captain while Pat Cummins recovers from a wrist injury. Meanwhile, Matthew Wade has been left out for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa.
Maxwell, who suffered a severe leg fracture last year, turns 35 during the forthcoming ODI World Cup 2023, which will be contested in India, starting from October 5, and has no immediate ambitions to follow any of them.
“I’ll keep playing as long as people will have me, until they think that someone is more deserving of my spot, which is fine. Until then, I’ll keep plugging along. I still feel fit, I still feel young, especially with the role I play. I still try to hit it to hotspots on the field, I’m not hiding at all,” Maxwell said at the launch of Kayo’s World Cup coverage.
Furthermore, he delved into the lessons he has learned so far in his career and stated that it would be hard for young players if they would have come across such situations.
“I’ve got a lot of scar tissue that’s been built up from the mistakes I’ve made in that role. It’s a hard thing for a young player to come in and do that role. When you have those young guys that come in, they might have success with their first game but a couple of games of failure, it’s really hard to come back from. Sometimes you just get used to failure as an older person and you can sort of have the resilience to come back from it,” he added.
There’s still some things I really want to tick off in my career: Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell continued by saying that he still has a lot to do in his career. The 34-year-old added that early retirement would be an injustice to his younger self.
“It certainly looks better as far as time-wise, even just missing birthdays, weddings, life events. I think that appeals to me. But in saying that, I’ve still got a fair way to go in my cricket career. There’s still some things I really want to tick off in my career. I think if I retired early, I probably wouldn’t be doing justice to my younger self, who had all these goals and aspirations. There’s still a few things I want to tick off,” the all-rounder concluded.