Glenn Maxwell retires from international cricket at 38

Australia’s explosive batter Glenn Maxwell announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday, after being left out of the squad for the upcoming Twenty20 series against England, AFP reported.

The 38-year-old, who had not played a Test since 2017, called time on his one-day career last year but kept the door open for T20 matches. He has not been picked since the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka in February, and selectors passed him over for a series against Bangladesh in June. On Monday he was left out again when Australia named their squad to face England this month, with younger players preferred.

“A little bit sad and a little bit inevitable”

“A little bit sad and a little bit inevitable too, but I’m announcing my retirement from international cricket,” Maxwell said on the Final Word podcast. He said he had had “numerous discussions” with selectors before and after the T20 World Cup and that it had been “pretty open-ended”.

“There wasn’t any pressure from (Australia team management), and we decided to sort of leave the door open,” he said. He explained that the selectors were looking to the future in a couple of series, “and we saw that in Bangladesh with guys getting their opportunity and performing really well”.

He said he had held “a small hope or discussion” that he might get a send-off game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against England. “But I can completely understand the direction they’re going with this squad,” he said. “I’m grateful for the time I was able to play for my country. If you had offered me that career when I first walked into the Victoria change rooms in 2009-ish, I would have bitten your hand off.”

His record

• T20 internationals: 130 matches, 2,897 runs at a strike rate of 154.42, making him Australia’s third-highest run-scorer in the format after David Warner and Aaron Finch.
• One-day internationals: 149 matches and 3,990 runs.
• Tests: seven, none since 2017.

Maxwell has also ended his first-class career with Victoria, but will continue to play for the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League.

The squad he missed

Australia’s selectors named new-look limited-overs squads for the England series on Monday, with Mitchell Marsh captaining both the one-day and T20 teams and several young players called up, among them Mahli Beardman, Jack Edwards, Liam Scott, Ollie Peake and Jake Fraser-McGurk. Australia play three home ODIs against England from November 13 to 18, followed by five T20s. Chairman of selectors George Bailey said the series gave a chance to “several players” to show their ability against “very strong opposition”. The matches are also an opportunity for younger players to stake a claim ahead of the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

What we know, and what we don’t

• Known: Maxwell has retired from international cricket, by his own announcement on a podcast.
• Known: he will stay in the Big Bash League with the Renegades.
• Unknown: whether Cricket Australia will mark his career with an event; he said he had hoped for a send-off game but understood the selectors’ direction.
• Unknown: how he will be used in franchise T20 leagues outside Australia, which the reports do not say.

Why it matters

Maxwell was one of the few batters who could change a white-ball game in a handful of overs, and his strike rate in T20 internationals, above 154 across 130 matches, shows it. His exit marks a step in Australia’s move to a younger side for the 2027 World Cup, and, as a player who said he was never pushed out, it is also an example of how a long career can end with a selection decision rather than a farewell. The Big Bash will remain the place to see him play.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn, citing AFP.