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Maxwell's first-class snub from Victoria

Star allrounder dropped for Sheffield Shield opening round after off-season attempt to switch states

Allrounder Glenn Maxwell has been consigned to carrying the drinks for Victoria in their Sheffield Shield opener against Tasmania at the MCG.

Maxwell was named 12th man for the day-night match, overlooked as the Bushrangers opted for just one slow-bowling option in left-armer Jon Holland, while Dan Christian was a late call-up to replace fellow seam-bowling allrounder Marcus Stoinis in the Victorian XI.

But Victoria coach Andrew McDonald said the surprise omission was simply a matter of team balance.

"There will be some unlucky players. We've got nearly the full list available and we've selected the team we think can beat Tasmania," McDonald said.

WATCH LIVE: Victoria v Tasmania Shield match

Maxwell, who made an unsuccessful bid to transfer to NSW on the eve of the domestic season, averaged 30.14 with the bat for the Bushrangers during the Matador BBQs One-Day Cup and took six wickets at 24.50.

It’s a blow to the 28-year-old’s hopes of impressing Australian selectors with his form in the four-day format this summer.

Maxwell has made no secret of his desire to add to his tally of three Test appearances and after being overlooked for the Qantas Test tour of Sri Lanka, the allrounder is hoping a strong summer in Shield cricket will put him in the selectors’ sights for next February’s four-Test tour of India.

"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," Maxwell said in August.

He averaged 55 for Victoria in six Shield appearances last summer, falling just short of a century when he was dismissed for 98 against Western Australia at the MCG.

It’s been a rollercoaster of an offseason for Maxwell, who was dropped from Australia’s one-day international side which toured Sri Lanka in August after a string of low scores in the one-day format during June’s ODI tri-series in the Caribbean.

He instead lined up for Australia A in the winter series in Queensland, where he scored 0, 38 and 13 in two first-class matches against South Africa A.

He followed that with knocks of 46no, 10 and 0 in three 50-over innings during the Quadrangular ‘A’ series.

But Maxwell found his groove upon his return to Australian colours for two Twenty20 Internationals in Sri Lanka in September, blasting an unbeaten 145 from just 65 balls in Pallekele before following up with a 29-ball 66 in the second match.

Maxwell sought a move from Victoria to NSW last month just weeks before the start of the start of the Matador Cup, but the voyage north of the Murray River was scuppered by the Cricket Australia - Australian Cricketers' Association Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU).

According to the MOU, a player wishing to move interstate has 13 days from when the CA Contracted Player List is announced, which happened on April 1 this year.

Maxwell said there were no ill feeling in the Bushrangers’ camp about the failed switch and that player movement is part and parcel of professional cricket.

"I sent a text message to the (Victoria) group saying it was purely me wanting a change and it was purely a cricket decision. No one cared," Maxwell said when asked if he had to clear anything up with his Victorian comrades.

"It was just ‘Yeah, we understand. No hard feelings'.”