Maxwell ankle injury increases World Cup uncertainty
The impact of the severely fractured leg he sustained last year is still being felt by the all-around player.
After being forced to withdraw from the most recent T20I series in South Africa owing to stiffness in his ankle brought on by his previously broken leg, Glenn Maxwell thinks he would need to carefully monitor his preparation for the ODI World Cup and may not play the entire lead-in series against India.
Maxwell had only been in South Africa for four days when, during a lap at his first training session, he began to feel pain in his left ankle. In a bizarre event in November of last year, he, in his own words, “snapped in half” the same limb. His ankle still has screws in it from the operation, but this pain came from a different area than prior ones.
Maxwell confirmed that he had received a cortisone injection in the ankle while speaking at the BBL overseas draft on Sunday night, where he was a member of the Melbourne Stars list team. Maxwell also said he was unsure of how much of the India series he would play as he and the Cricket Australia strength and conditioning team try to map out a plan to have him fully fit for the World Cup.
Maxwell stated, “I still want to participate in that India series.” “However, I don’t sense any pressure. The judges and the staff have treated me superbly as well. They realize they have some extra time before the World Cup, so they don’t want to put too much pressure on me to sort of fix that date. In order to ensure that we finish the competition, I was able to give myself more time rather than rushing it and possibly placing myself a week or two behind.
Given that he was already scheduled to miss the five ODIs that begin on Thursday due to the upcoming birth of his first child, CA’s medical team decided to be cautious and disqualify him from the T20I series in South Africa, which Australia won 3-0 on Sunday.
Maxwell is anticipated to be included in Australia’s original World Cup squad of 15, but there are a number of other players who could suffer from injuries, including Mitchell Starc (groin), Steven Smith (wrist), Pat Cummins (wrist), and Ashton Agar (calf). Australia has till September 28, following the three games against India, to decide on the team.
After the travel to South Africa and a poor lead-in caused the soreness he felt, Maxwell will meet with CA’s medical team on Monday to plan out the upcoming few weeks leading up to flying to India.
When he arrived in South Africa, he admitted, “I don’t think I could have predicted how sore I was going to be.” However, it fit inside that category. I felt great even when I went to train that day. Nothing was incorrect. Something just got impinged. I believe that one of the tendons around my ankle was slightly swollen, inflamed, and kept catching, causing a little discomfort for me. I’m hoping the cortisone will take care of it and allow me to resume my previous level of activity before leaving for South Africa.
We simply need to get a little smarter moving ahead. I believe that before a flight like that, I should make an effort to handle my preparation a little better. It won’t take long for things to turn around because I’m already back in the gym and will most likely resume my regular training this week. Knowing that I haven’t overcome the initial injury’s hurdle is all there is to it.
The birth of his first kid further complicates things. Maxwell is aware that the approaching weeks will require him to perform a fine balancing act on all fronts.
“It’s going to be a busy fortnight,” Maxwell said. I guess I’m trying to manage my program, and tomorrow I’ll sit down with the strength and conditioning team and come up with a real strategy, but there are obviously some distractions as well.
“I’m trying to manage obviously a pretty special time in my life with a pretty big time in my career, trying to manage those two and work out the balance.”
Since making a full recovery from his injury in February, Maxwell has played a lot of cricket this year. He has played two first-class games for Victoria and Warwickshire, 28 T20 matches in the IPL and Blast, and 28 T20 matches overall, but only one 50-over match during that period due in part to his busy schedule. Prior to the incident in South Africa, he was dropped from the Hundred so that he could relax for the World Cup.
He continues to be a crucial component of Australia’s World Cup ambitions, with his offspin being especially valuable in India because Australia does not have many all-around spinners in their roster. Although Smith and Travis Head are competent, neither has bowled much in recent ODIs. Head has only bowled in four of his past 20 one-day internationals and only 13 total overs over that span, while Smith has only bowled five over in his last 73 one-day internationals. Marnus Labuschagne is in the squad for the South Africa ODIs as a replacement for Smith’s injury, although he is not included in the initial 18-man World Cup roster.
In case Maxwell is unable to play in the World Cup, Australia’s selectors have called up Tim David for the ODI series against South Africa. Although David couldn’t match Maxwell’s all-around ability, the all-rounder thinks he can carry over his T20 success into the ODI format.
He’s a great addition, Maxwell remarked. “I believe the way he batted in that first T20I against South Africa demonstrated great maturity and a great level head. I also believe that any time you bring in a player who is in good form, he has a history of great power hitting the back end, but what we probably haven’t seen much of from Tim on the international stage is that style of play where he is able to get through a tough time. He plays the spin quite well. He is a solid Indian hitter. That he has joined that team is not surprising to me.
