Australia’s Peter Siddle, in an interview to Fox Sports, offered a piece of advice to all-rounder Glenn Maxwell – who made his Test return after a gap of almost three years in Ranchi and registered his maiden Test century on second day of the ongoing third Test of the Border-Gavaskar series.
The 32-year-old Siddle stated Maxwell has played a significant role in the limited-overs format with his aggressive brand of cricket, but he should concentrate on scoring truck loads of runs if he has to press his claim for a permanent spot in the Test playing XI.
“We know how talented you [Maxwell] are, don’t talk about it, just go out there and make runs and make them pick you. I think that’s what all the great batsmen that haven’t been in the side have done,” Siddle was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia.
While speaking about his Victorian Bushrangers teammate, Siddle said Maxwell must focus on his batting to emerge as a good all-round prospect for Australia in the longer format of the game.
“He [Maxwell] did that in the T20s against Sri Lanka (last September when he blasted a record hundred and record fifty), he was out of the (one-day) team and he just went out there and scored runs. I think that’s what he has to do,” Siddle recollected.
Siddle also praised Maxwell for his remarkable performance with the bat while setting a 191-run partnership alongside skipper Steven Smith in the Ranchi Test.
“He’s shown that now, he knows he can play a different game and perform out there. It was awesome to watch, just because it was so different than the normal Maxi. I think that’s what makes it so special,” Siddle said.
Playing his fourth Test, the 28-year-old Maxwell scored 104 to become the second Australian (after Shane Watson) to score a century across all three formats of international cricket.
“I just think with Maxi, there was always a lot of talk about, he should be in the Test team. I should be this, I should be that,” Siddle remarked.
He expressed Maxwell could cement his place at No. 6 while giving such performances in future.
“Just relax, go out there and score runs. He does put a lot of pressure on himself, he is very emotional. He just loves the game, he loves scoring runs, he loves playing for Australia, Victoria,” Siddle said for Maxwell.