Maddinson vows to keep playing his way

NSW Blues batsman Nic Maddinson says he won’t change the approach that earnt him a call-up into the Test side this summer despite being dropped after just three matches. 

Maddinson was picked alongside Queensland’s Matt Renshaw and Victoria’s Peter Handscomb to make his debut at the Adelaide Oval against the Proteas in what was heralded as a new era in Australian cricket following the nadir of the hammering in Hobart.

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While both Renshaw and Handscomb sealed their position with consistent scores and a century each (Handscomb made sure of his spot by scoring two tons and averaging 99.75), Maddinson couldn’t grasp his chance with a big score of his own.

Picked for his ability to take the game away from an opposition, the 25-year-old tallied just 27 runs in four innings and was unable to showcase his immense talent with the bat at the highest level.

Maddinson was dropped for the final Test of the summer at the SCG and was overlooked in the 16-man Test squad that will tour India in February-March. 

But the disappointment of his Test omission won’t deter the powerful left-hander, who says he will keep playing in the same fashion that saw him awarded a Baggy Green.

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“I’m not going to change anything,” Maddinson said on Monday.

“I’m just going to play the same way I was and still have the same mindset as what I did when I was playing those Tests. 

“It’s more about shot selection at times more so than changing my game and needing a new technique or whatever. 

“I’m out there to score runs. If they come at a run-a-ball or come at striking at 30 (runs per 100 balls faced) it doesn’t bother me.”

Of the three fresh faces in the Adelaide Test squad to face the Proteas last November, Maddinson was perhaps the most surprising given his form in the preceding rounds of Sheffield Shield cricket.

After scoring 116 in the first innings against Western Australia on a raging turner at the SCG, Maddinson registered scores of 0, 6 and 33 in his next three Shield innings.

However, the new-look selection panel deemed Maddinson ready for a Test call-up even if the rookie wasn’t totally convinced himself.

“I don’t know whether I was trying to convince myself I was ready or I actually believed it but I thought I was,” Maddinson said. 

“Still, you don’t know until you’re there and have to perform under that pressure. 

“At the time I didn’t feel out of place being in Test cricket. 

“When I was batting I felt comfortable, I wasn’t nervous or stressed about being up to the challenge.

“I thought I was adequate and had a few good opportunities to nail down a spot which I missed out so that was disappointing. 

“I might not have had the couple of scores in the Shield game before leading up to that Test but I still felt like once I was there I could perform there.”

While he found himself in unfamiliar territory, if not entirely uncomfortable, Maddinson says he is disappointed he couldn’t guarantee further selection with a substantial innings and stay in his new surrounds for a long period of time.

“The hardest part is probably getting there and although my form hadn’t been great leading in I found myself in the team,” he said.

“It was about just trying to put some performances together and warrant selection for future games, which I was a little bit frustrated and disappointed with how I went. 

“I had some pretty good opportunities I Melbourne and in Brisbane to really nail down a spot and didn’t grab them.”

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Now Maddinson shifts from the white ball and T20 cricket of the KFC Big Bash League to the red Dukes ball and the four-day format of the Sheffield Shield with the Blues.

And the southpaw has a clear goal for the back end of the first-class season: win games of cricket for his state and score as many runs as possible. 

“I actually haven’t even thought about playing Test cricket again since (he was dropped),” he said. 

“It’s been BBL and my focus has been there and going into Shield cricket I want to do as well as I can. 

“It’s pretty cliché to say you want to win games for New South Wales and do well but that’s the main goal. 

“I want to score hundreds, as many as I can. 

“I don’t want to think about Test cricket. 

“It is hard (getting dropped) but at the end of the day I’ve had my chance and couldn’t grab so it’s back to Shield cricket to score runs again.”