Maxwell dropped for ‘disciplinary reasons’

Australian World Cup star Glenn Maxwell was last night dropped from the Yorkshire Twenty20 team for ‘disciplinary reasons’.

It marked a premature end to the allrounder’s stint in the English domestic T20 competition, with Yorkshire failing to reach the quarter-finals despite an impressive eight-wicket win over Birmingham in their final match.

"It was just unprofessional behaviour and I don't wish to add anything further," said Yorkshire coach and former Australia quick Jason Gillespie.

"It has been dealt with and we have moved on and the slate is clean. As soon as the decision was made, we cracked on."

Despite some moments of brilliance, Maxwell has largely struggled to make an impression with the bat this winter, registering 229 runs at an average of 20.82 in 12 innings during the T20 competition and just 25 runs at an average of 8.33 in two County Championship matches.

The 26-year-old was originally scheduled to join the Australia ‘A’ tour of India, but had his stay with the Vikings extended when teammate and close friend Aaron Finch underwent foot surgery earlier this month.

Remaining in the UK will allow Maxwell to further acclimatise to the local conditions ahead of the limited-overs component of Australia’s Qantas Tour of the British Isles.

It was also seen as a potential opportunity for Maxwell to get some much needed time playing some red-ball cricket after an extended focus on the shorter formats as Australia marched towards World Cup glory earlier this year, where the Victorian smashed 324 runs at an impressive average of 64.80 in seven innings.

The destructive right-hander has played three Test matches, the most recent of those against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi last October, and hoped to get a chance to impress national selectors this winter.

"I knew I hadn’t played a whole lot of red-ball cricket, so I was hoping the fact that I’d been playing international cricket for Australia and that was the reason I was missing Shield cricket would hold me in good stead,” Maxwell told cricket.com.au in April after missing out on Ashes selection.

"But obviously not, and I’ve just got to keep finding a way to try and play some red-ball cricket."

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