Finch backs Maxwell to find form
Glenn Maxwell's style of batting, when it comes off, is a thing of beauty. When it doesn't, he looks ordinary and that has been the case all throughout Australia's limited-overs tour of India.
In the first three One-Day Internationals, he scored 58 runs at an average of 19, before he was dropped for the next two games. It wasn't the first time the team management's patience ran out and he was dropped either.
Maxwell's earlier axing in June last year came after he mustered just nine runs in five innings. He came back strongly with knocks of 60 and 78 against Pakistan in January this year, but has since reverted to his old ways.
David Saker, Australia's stand-in coach, didn't mince words last week when discussing Maxwell's disappointing performance: "We were looking for people to perform, and in his last 20 games, he probably hasn't done that for us. In his position, the way he plays, he's a big match winner. But it's been a while he's done that for us, especially in any consistent form."
The lean patch seems to have extended to the Twenty20 International series, with Maxwell pulling a long hop from Yuzvendra Chahal straight to short mid-on for a 16-ball 17 in the first match in Ranchi on Saturday (October 7). He was batting up the order at No. 3, with Steven Smith ruled out of the series with a shoulder injury, but the move didn't come off and India won the encounter by nine wickets on DLS.
Aaron Finch, who knows Maxwell better than most, sympathised with his plight and said his attitude after being dropped has been nothing short of exemplary even if his form has been less than stellar.
"He has been brilliant around the group," offered Finch. "It’s alway tough when someone gets dropped. I've been there, I know that feeling all too well. Particularly on a tour, you tend to go into a shell, but he was the exact opposite. He was up and about around the group and doing everything to help anybody perform well on the day."
"With the bat ... there can be brutal conditions when things aren't going your way, he has had a couple of unlucky dismissals. He batted well in the first game but it was a rain-shortened match. Sometimes form just eludes you a little bit."
Finch hinted that Maxwell was weighed down by expectations to go bang-bang from the outset. "We've seen how dominant and destructive he is in these conditions before so I don’t think it is far away [from turning his form around]. Just a few game plan tinkers here and that would go a long way in just taking the pressure off himself. He probably feels that people expect him to score at 200. Everyone knows he can hit six after six.
"Also, batting at No. 3 is a different responsibility in this format for him. I know he's opened a couple of times, but he is predominantly a middle-over player. It is a different role. It can take a little bit of time to get your head around it. It's a tough position to bat; some guys love it, some guys don't. It is one of those positions that can be such a swing type of position in the order."
Maxwell's form is also a concern for Australia heading into the Ashes series at home, which begins in November, but Finch was certain the allrounder would get his act together sooner rather than later. "I don't think he is far away at all," he said. "He is hitting the ball beautifully in the nets and he is doing everything he can."
