Despite nothing going his way at the moment, Australia’s under-fire batsman Glenn Maxwell is hopeful of getting a place in the team for the upcoming Ashes in summer.
The hard-hitting batsman has looked completely out of sorts on the ongoing tour of India, managing just 75 runs in three ODIs and one T20I so far.
However, he has every reason of being hopeful for making it to the Test team for the five-game series against England, starting November 23. Maxwell’s Test career was off the track before he bounced back in style with a sizzling hundred in the Ranchi Test against India. Moreover, with the Australian team-management making it clear that the performance in the Sheffield Shield will get considered while selecting the squad, Maxwell is confident of turning around things once again.
“There’s still a fair bit of time to go,” he said on Monday (October 9). “I’d like to get the opportunity if I do play well in those three Shield games. To play in the Ashes would be an absolute dream. They’ve made it pretty clear that whoever performs well in the three Shield games will put their name up and get the opportunity.
“I’ve obviously been a little bit short of runs. I’ve been hitting the ball sort of how I’d like to, but I just seem to keep getting out at strange times and in different ways,” he added.
Maxwell further said he is not paying too much heed to the fierce competition for the number six spot in the Test team. The right-handed batsman faces stiff competition for the spot from Hilton Cartwright, Marcus Stoinis and Nic Maddinson.
“I haven’t really been paying too much attention to it, to be honest,” Maxwell said. “I’ve been a bit mute on social media recently. I’ve just been concentrating on trying to play good cricket for my country. Hopefully, there’s runs around the corner and some success around the corner.”
Maxwell admitted Australia’s middle-order needs to step up soon after their horror show in India.
“I’m not sure anyone in that middle order’s made runs consistently during this tour,” he said. “I think all of us have probably got to stand up. As a group, I think we need to be winning games of cricket.”