Maxwell leaving 'that leave' in the past

It was cricket's version of a raunchy Kim Kardashian photo shoot, but a year on since breaking the internet with the now infamous 'leave', the painful memory doesn't cross Glenn Maxwell's mind.

Fresh off scoring a match-winning half-century to ignite the Melbourne Stars' KFC Big Bash League campaign, Maxwell's attention was transported 12 months into the past in order to revisit the nadir of his roller-coaster cricket career.

To the night where he inexplicably charged Brisbane Heat left-arm seamer Ryan Duffield, offered not to play a shot and watched on as the ball swung back and collided with the exposed woodwork to dismiss the charismatic allrounder for a golden duck.

Watch: Maxi's unbelievable leave

But when asked if the horrors of that night at the Gabba had resurfaced on Sunday evening in Sydney, Maxwell was as open and honest as his premeditated shot was a year earlier.

"Did not cross my mind one iota," Maxwell told reporters after play. "I haven't been thinking about it at all – it's all been business as usual."

The 'leave' wasn't just some freak incident from a talented cricketer who seemingly produces one such instance, good or bad, each match he plays.

It was the culmination of the "worst two months" of his life, where he had to deal with the freak death of Phillip Hughes alongside his best friend and housemate Aaron Finch.

As the pair mourned in different ways and at different stages, cricket continued, and Maxwell's form hit rock bottom in the process.

"I didn't really adapt well at the time," he said. "I think the week after my head was a bit nowhere.

"But afterwards you get a bit of confidence back at the crease, you can quickly forget about it and quickly laugh about it.

"It wasn't exactly the greatest mental scar I wanted to carry around last season, especially after everything (Hughes's passing) that happened."

This summer things are a lot different.

Maxwell has relished the opportunity to play red-ball, four-day cricket for the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers, an option that wasn't possible last season due to his international commitments in Australia's limited-overs outfits.

Watch: Stars post first win of BBL|05

With 250 Sheffield Shield runs at 50, the 27-year-old says it's the work in the whites that's allowed him to prosper in the green of the Stars.

"It's been nice to keep some kind of form going throughout this summer," Maxwell told cricket.com.au.

"(Playing) a couple of the (Sheffield) Shield games, it's been nice to get a bat and spend some time out there in the middle.

"I didn't really get that last year – I was being thrown from tour to tour with the Dubai Test tour, T20s straight after against South Africa and then the one-day series (against England and India), to only get one Shield game last year was a bit disappointing.

"To get a bit more consistent cricket this season for Victoria has been really good for myself and how I've come into this Big Bash as well."

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