As Glenn Maxwell returns to Pallekele for the first time since his 2016 epic, his first instinct is to talk about the cricket he didn't play
Maxwell's happy hunting ground revives familiar yearning
The last time Glenn Maxwell visited Pallekele Stadium, he played one of the most destructive T20 International knocks and put together one of his biggest statement innings in a career that has been full of them.
Yet ask Maxwell to cast his mind back to that 2016 tour of Sri Lanka and his first instinct is to talk about the cricket he didn’t play.
These days – while he has not forsaken all hope of pulling on the Baggy Green again, nor does he disagree with his omission for the Tests on Australia’s first tour back to the island – Maxwell is now at least at peace with the possibility that part of his career might have a full stop on it.
It was a different story back then.
Devastated to be dropped from an ODI squad for the first time in four years when he missed out for a three-match series in Sri Lanka, Maxwell had also watched the preceding 0-3 Test series whitewash somewhat wistfully as Australia failed to come to terms with turning pitches.
The then 27-year-old, known mainly for white-ball exploits and his skill against spin bowling, had finished third on the previous Sheffield Shield season’s batting averages in six appearances for Victoria in between international limited-overs commitments.
"It looked like a brutal series, because the ball was spinning sideways and doing all sorts, but I was watching it going, ‘I'd love to be over there’," Maxwell, who will play in Saturday’s third T20I in Kandy, told cricket.com.au this week.
"I obviously played in the India series the following year (where he scored his maiden Test ton in Ranchi) and the rest is history, but it would have been nice to play that Test series.
"I wonder where things would have gone differently if I had been playing Test cricket earlier, and if I had been (selected) for that Sri Lanka Test series."
Instead he headed over just for the tour-concluding T20 series (consisting of just two games) and after openers Aaron Finch (finger) and Chris Lynn (hamstring) both went down with injuries, Maxwell found himself thrust into a new role.
"All of a sudden, there was a shortage of openers and even though we had Travis Head and Usman Khawaja in the team, with David Warner up top we decided to go with the left-right (combination)," he said. “I was the lucky benefactor of it, I suppose.
"To have that opportunity to open the batting with him on a pretty good wicket in Kandy and to make that first opportunity count was pretty cool."
Image Id: 5650754A1890422497F827A02A7A671B Image Caption: Maxwell bats during his 2016 epic in Sri Lanka // GettyMaxwell has not opened the batting in T20Is before or since that series.
From a tempered start in which he managed just two runs from his first seven balls, Maxwell exploded to reach his first fifty in 27 deliveries and then just needed 22 more to get to his second international hundred (and first in T20s).
A daring assault of calculated slogs and reverse sweeps saw a remarkable nine sixes come flying off his blade. He finished with 145 from 65 balls.
Within reach, Maxwell thought once he had reached triple-figures, was the T20I record individual score set by Finch, his former housemate whose opening spot he had seized, in 2013 when he pummelled 156 against England in Southampton.
A late cameo from Head put paid to his hopes of one-upping his mate, with Finch rewriting the books two years later anyway when he blasted 175 in Zimbabwe.
"At no stage did I go out there thinking I was going to get a hundred. I was hoping to make an impact and if I had got 40 or 50 I would have been really proud of myself to be able to give ourselves a head start," said Maxwell.
"From there I got on a roll and just kept going.
"It would have been nice to get a bit more strike in those last few overs and push for Finchy’s record, but I don’t think I would have got close to his current record."
The long-form ambitions Maxwell harboured then remain now.
His limited-overs spots may be more secure but that has cost him an extended run at proving himself against the red ball, having gone close to three years without playing first-class cricket.
"I understood why," Maxwell, now 33, said of his absence from the squad that will play two Tests in Galle starting later this month. “You can't change a winning squad and just throw in random people.
"A guy that hasn’t played any first-class cricket would be a random pick. I know it’s specific to my skillset and the way I play slow bowling, especially in these conditions, that might have been something to sway them.
"But I think the way they’ve shown faith in their current squad is brilliant.
"It’s nice that the door’s not closed but I also thought it was nice that they showed faith in that squad."
Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka, 2022
Sri Lanka T20 squad: Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Nuwanidu Fernando, Lahiru Madushanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana, Ramesh Mendis, Maheesh Theekshana, Praveen Jayawickrama, Lakshan Sandakan. Standby: Jeffrey Vandersay, Niroshan Dickwella
Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner, Matthew Wade
June 7: Australia won by 10 wickets
June 8: Australia won by three wickets
June 11: Third T20, Kandy, 11.30pm AEST
Sri Lanka ODI squad: Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Niroshan Dickwella, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Asitha Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Ramesh Mendis, Maheesh Theekshana, Praveen Jayawickrama, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lahiru Madushanka, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan
Australia ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
June 14: First ODI, Kandy, 7pm AEST
June 16: Second ODI, Kandy, 7pm AEST
June 19: Third ODI, Colombo, 7pm AEST
June 21: Fourth ODI, Colombo, 7pm AEST
June 24: Fifth ODI, Colombo, 7pm AEST
Sri Lanka Test squad (provisional): Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Oshada Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya De Silva, Kamindu Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, Dinesh Chandimal, Chamika Karunaratne, Ramesh Mendis, Mohamed Shiraz, Shiran Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lakshitha Rasanjana, Praveen Jayawickrama, Lasith Embuldeniya, Suminda Lakshan
Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
June 29 - July 3: First Test, Galle, 2.30pm AEST
July 8-12: Second Test, Galle, 2.30pm AEST
All Sri Lanka v Australia international fixtures will be screened live on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports
Australia A fixtures
Australia A squad: Scott Boland, Aaron Hardie, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Henry Hunt, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nic Maddinson, Nathan McAndrew, Todd Murphy, Jimmy Peirson, Josh Philippe, Matt Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Mark Steketee
Sri Lanka A one-day squad: Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Niroshan Dickwella, Lahiru Udara, Lasith Croospulle, Oshada Fernando, Pabasara Waduge, Kamindu Mendis, Ashen Bandara, Janitha Liyanage, Sahan Arachchi, Pulina Tharanga, Dunith Wellalage, Dananjaya Lakshan, Shiran Fernando (will not play due to injury), Dilshan Madushanka, Pramod Madushan, Nishan Madushka, Ashen Daniel,Nisala Tharaka
June 8: Australia A won by seven wickets
June 10: Sri Lanka A won by four wickets
June 14-17: first-class tour match v Sri Lanka A, Hambantota
June 21-24: first-class tour match v Sri Lanka A, Hambantota