Maxwell snub ‘total injustice’: Aussie great
AUSSIE test great Geoff Lawson has described star allrounder Glenn Maxwell’s test cricket exile as a “total injustice”.
The former Aussie quick has made a public call for selectors to pick the Victorian for the First Test against India in Adelaide, beginning December 6.
Lawson said Maxwell is close to the only batsman in Australia breaking the door down for test selection — while out of form brothers Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh continue to struggle through form slumps.
Lawson described the pinball run-around Maxwell has been given since Justin Langer’s appointment as coach as a “total injustice”.
Maxwell was overlooked for the test series against Pakistan after being denied a chance to press his claim in the recent Australia A tour of India.
The 30-year-old is again missing out on red-ball cricket — and will miss the first four rounds of the Sheffield Shield to play in Australia’s three-match Twenty20 series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
It will give Maxwell just one Shield match to press his claim for the summer test series against India.
Lawson said it would be unthinkable for Australian selectors to stick with the Marsh brothers and ignore Maxwell again.
The big woe.Source:AFP
“The Australian cricket community has just about had enough of the Marsh brothers,” Lawson told Sky Sports Radio.
“They need some players who can make some runs. I can’t see how they can possibly retain their positions. Mitchell’s hardly doing any bowling, his bowling numbers are dreadful. His batting numbers are dreadful. Shaun’s in a form slump that’s continued for a long time. He’s had one good series in his last seven. He’s 35-years-old. He’s not ticking any boxes. None.”
Lawson suggested there may be more than meets the eye surrounding Maxwell’s failure to get a look into the Aussie test side.
It comes after Langer declared publicly that being a “good bloke” is one of the two criteria for being selected in the Aussie top six.
“The message has been since day one that you’ve got to be a good bloke and you’ve got to score runs,” he said recently.
Lawson suggested, in the mind of Langer, that Maxwell may not pass both criteria.
“Glenn Maxwell was one. He was ticking all the boxes, maybe Justin Langer doesn’t think he’s a good bloke,” he said.
“What is going on? Is Glenn Maxwell not a better batsman at the moment than Marnus Labuschagne or Mitchell Marsh or Shaun Marsh? Of course he is, so why isn’t he playing?
“That just seems like a total injustice.”
It comes after Australian cricketer Mel Jones told ABC Offsiders on Sunday said Maxwell’s omission from the Australia A tour sent a message that selectors weren’t even considering him.
Australia’s Shaun Marsh out for peanuts yet again.Source:AP
Lawson also mentioned allrounder Marcus Stoinis and 20-year-old Victorian batsman as players selectors must consider to replace the out of form Marsh brothers.
Langer last week backed Shaun Marsh to play in next month’s ODI series against South Africa instead of finding form in the Sheffield Shield.
Marsh has reclaimed his title as the whipping boy of Australian cricket, producing scores of seven, zero, three and four during Pakistan’s 1-0 Test series defeat of Australia in the UAE.
The left-hander, having scored more runs during the home Ashes series than any batsman bar Steve Smith, he has since gone 12 innings without a substantial score.
“SOS has obviously had a poor series and he knows that. You can see it in his face he knows he’s had a poor series,” Langer said.
“So then you get the balancing act right as a selector. On merit, he has to play the one-dayers; in his last five one-day internationals for Australia, he’s scored two hundreds. You’ve got to be fair and reward people for performance.
“On the flipside of that, by playing the one-dayers then he might not play Shield cricket. But having said all that, runs are the currency of value whether you’re making them in T20 cricket or one-day cricket or Sheffield Shield cricket or Test cricket.”
— with AAP
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