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What Smith wants from Maxwell

Captain wants allrounder to dominate Matador Cup and make an "irresistible" case for recall

Australia captain Steve Smith wants to see Glenn Maxwell "dominate" this season’s Matador BBQs One-Day Cup as the Victorian attempts to fight his way back into the country’s one-day outfit.

Maxwell returned to international cricket in spectacular fashion earlier this month, scoring his maiden T20I century and a rapid half-century in the 2-0 series win in Sri Lanka.

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The two breath-taking innings underlined what a prolific white-ball batsman Maxwell can be, but a poor run of form in the 50-over format saw the allrounder dumped from the ODI squad for the preceding five-match series.

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Maxwell was again overlooked for the squad that will travel to South Africa tomorrow for a lone ODI against Ireland a five-match series against the Proteas, with Australia’s selectors opting not to replace injured allrounder James Faulkner.

After a failed attempt at a last-minute switch from Victoria to NSW was revealed last week, Maxwell will now have the entire Matador Cup to prove his wares in one-day cricket, and it’s exactly what the national skipper wants to see.

"For now we’d like to see him really dominate the Matador Cup,” Smith said. “I want to see him do extremely well in that.

"There’s no reason why he can’t be the leading run-scorer, take plenty of wickets, and do well for Victoria.

"Hopefully he can have a good Matador Cup and keep putting his name up there."

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Maxwell blasted 145no in the first T20 international in Pallekele and backed it up with a 29-ball 66 in the second match in Colombo.

The 27-year-old opened the innings on both occasions, and while it is unlikely he’ll open again once a fit Aaron Finch returns to the side, his place in the T20I XI is certain.

Cracking back into the ODI team will be much more difficult after the world champion Australian team dominated Sri Lanka on their home turf, a feat the former world No.1 Test team was unable to manage.

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Smith is a key member of the powerful Australia 50-over side, and says a blockbuster Matador Cup by Maxwell could make him "irresistible" when it comes to selection time.

"He (Maxwell) performed very well in the T20s in Sri Lanka, but the one-day guys played incredibly well. We won that series 4-1," Smith said.

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"I think the selectors have openly come out and said they want some more consistency from Glenn.

"If you look back at his last 15 or 20 one-day games (for Australia) we probably haven’t seen that from him.

"From my point of view I’d like to see him have a very good Matador Cup and make it irresistible for the selectors to pick him."

The Matador Cup begins on October 1 when the my FootDr Queensland Bulls tackle the Cricket Australia XI in Brisbane.