Maxwell sees red on road to return

Glenn Maxwell plans to remind national selectors of his record with the bat at first-class level when Australia A meet South Africa A in Townsville on Saturday.

Maxwell, who is part of Australia A's four-day and 50-over squads, had mixed fortunes in the 'A' side's 197-run win over the tourists in the series opener in Brisbane earlier this week.

He was dismissed for a 10-ball duck in the first innings, before being elevated to No.3 in the second dig and under orders to boost the run-rate produced an exciting cameo of 38 off 22 balls.

But that flashy show is not the sort of innings he wants to replicate at Townsville's Tony Ireland Stadium when the second match gets underway on Saturday.

"In the first innings (in Brisbane) I was just a bit too eager to get bat on ball, I hadn't really faced a lot of bowlers in the pre-season," Maxwell said on Thursday.

"In the second innings I got into a scenario where (captain) Pete Handscomb told me to go out and accelerate because he wanted to declare.

"Hopefully this match gives me a chance to bat for a longer period of time because I want to show what I did over the last couple of Shield seasons and make big runs to put the team in a good position."

Having been dropped from Australia's limited-overs squad to tour Sri Lanka later this month, Maxwell said he was focusing on the "silver linings" – namely a mid-winter chance to prove to selectors he belongs at the top level in all forms of the game.

Maxwell was a notable omission from Australia's 15-man Test squad for the Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka, despite being part of the Test squad that would have visited Bangladesh last October if not for security concerns.

Yesterday, the Victorian found an unlikely source of support in Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, who praised Maxwell's batsmanship.

"He plays spin better than most of the Australian batters," Mathews said. "He's one player who scores both sides of the wicket.

"We are quite happy to see him not in the squad."

But with Australia set to tour India for a four-Test series early next year, Maxwell can see an opportunity to add to his three Test caps.

While international limited-overs commitments have curtailed his Shield appearances in recent years, it remains a statistically solid area for Maxwell with the bat, who averages 41.47 in first-class cricket.

The 27-year-old played six matches for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield last summer, averaging 56 and falling just shy of a century when he was dismissed for 98 against Western Australia at the MCG in November.

"Hopefully with a few red-ball games here I can put my game back in front of the selectors," he said.

"The schedule doesn't always allow the opportunities to play red-ball cricket. It's always a great opportunity to play (limited-overs) for your county, but the catch-22 is you miss Shield games and give guys the chance to overtake you in the Test rankings.

"I'm hoping with a few games here, I can make sure I can score runs consistently and that's what the selectors want.

"I've been in really good (Shield) form over the last few years, it's been a really consistent format for me, statistically my best format, which people don't seem to grasp very well."

While Maxwell was surprised by his omission from Australia's ODI squad for the upcoming five-match series in Sri Lanka, he's pledged to regain his place.

"I've taken (the news) pretty well. Having this opportunity at the same time softens the blow a little," the allrounder said.

"It gives you an opportunity to show the selectors you want to be back there.

"It would have been nice to be in Sri Lanka with the spinning conditions and get more of a chance with the ball, but I had to make more runs. I take full responsibility for that, so I've got to make sure I'm moving on and playing better when I have the opportunity."

Maxwell put a ball on the roof of Queensland Cricket's headquarters in the first match against South Africa A, one of three sixes in an entertaining hand, but don't expect the aerial approach this time around.

"I'll probably be keeping it on the ground," he added. "I don't think the selectors want to see me hit sixes – they know I can do that – so it's about accumulating totals and not just doing the flashy stuff."

Every match of the Australia A winter series will be live streamed on cricket.com.au and the Cricket Australia Live App.

Full Australia A series details

Australia A first-class squad v South Africa: Peter Handscomb (c), Cameron Bancroft, Scott Boland, Jon Holland, Jake Lehmann, Joe Mennie, Kurtis Patterson, Matt Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Chris Tremain, Sam Whiteman, Dan Worrall.

Australia A one-day squad: Chris Lynn (c), Peter Handscomb (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Scott Boland, Cameron Boyce, Jake Lehmann, Glenn Maxwell, Joe Mennie, Kurtis Patterson, Kane Richardson, Alex Ross, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Tremain, Sam Whiteman, Dan Worrall.

National Performance Squad: Sean Abbott (NSW), Hilton Cartwright (WA), Kyle Gardiner (WA), David Grant (SA), Sam Grimwade (Vic), Sam Harper (Vic), Sam Heazlett (Qld), Clint Hinchliffe (WA), Josh Inglis (WA), Caleb Jewell (Tas), David Moody (WA), Arjun Nair (NSW), Tom O'Donnell (Vic), Matthew Renshaw (Qld), Matthew Short (Vic), Mitchell Swepson (Qld).

South Africa A four-day squad: Stephen Cook (c), Qaasim Adams, Temba Bavuma, Dean Elgar, Heino Kuhn, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Duanne Olivier, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Omphile Ramela, Stiaan van Zyl, Dane Vilas, Hardus Viljoen 

South Africa A one-day squad: Wayne Parnell (c), Qaasim Adams, Marchant de Lange, Reeza Hendricks, Heino Kuhn, Eddie Leie, Sisanda Magala, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Rilee Rossouw, Malusi Siboto, Khaya Zondo, David Miller, Dane Vilas 

India A squad: Naman Ojha (capt), Faiz Fazal, Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Varun Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Barinder Sran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sanju Samson.

Fixtures

Four-day matches 

30 July – 2 August, Australia A v South Africa A, Allan Border Field, Brisbane
6 August – 9 August, Australia A v South Africa A, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville

One-day Series

13 August, South Africa A v NPS, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
14 August, Australia A v India A, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
16 August, Australia A v NPS, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
17 August, South Africa A v India A, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
20 August, Australia A v South Africa A, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
21 August, India A v NPS, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
24 August, NPS v Australia A, Harrup Park, Mackay
25 August, South Africa A v India A, Harrup Park, Mackay
27 August, NPS v India A, Harrup Park, Mackay
28 August, Australia A v South Africa A, Harrup Park, Mackay
30 August, Australia A v India A, Harrup Park, Mackay
31 August, South Africa A v NPS, Harrup Park, Mackay
3 September; Final 3 v 4, Harrup Park, Mackay
4 September, Final 1 v 2, Harrup Park, Mackay

Four-day matches

8-11 September, Australia A v India A, Allan Border Field, Brisbane
15-18 September, Australia A v India A, Allan Border Field, Brisbane