Symonds backs Maxwell for Tests

Former champion allrounder Andrew Symonds has indicated that Glenn Maxwell’s current blazing batting form in the Indian Premier League could prove the catalyst to the Victorian shoring up a place in Australia’s Test XI.

Maxwell has been a star performer for King’s XI Punjab in the current IPL with 300 runs from his five innings at an average of 60 and a remarkable strike rate of more than two runs per ball faced. 

But while his prowess in the ultra-short format of the game remains unquestioned and he has established himself as an increasingly valuable member of Australia’s ODI planning for next year’s ICC World Cup, he has yet to reach his full potential in the first-class arena. 

The 25-year-old all-rounder has played just two Test matches – on Australia’s ill-fated tour of India last year – and emerged with a batting average of less than 10 and a bowling average of close to 30.

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Citing his own career curve as an example, Symonds – who earned his reputation as a limited-overs specialist and played almost 100 ODIs before making his Test debut in 2004 – claimed that carving a niche against the white ball can be a useful road to the Test arena. 

“You’ve got to find a way to make your way into each side, whether that’s through short form cricket as I did, and if Glenn can do the same thing then it will be ideal for him,” Symonds told former Australian fast bowler Rodney Hogg in an interview with Melbourne radio station SEN today.

“It’s a good opportunity for him (Maxwell).

“He’s had big wraps and hopefully we’re now starting to see him get to the point where he can show people what he can actually do.”

While the array and power of Maxwell’s strokes – he has pummelled 30 boundaries and 17 sixes from the 149 deliveries he has faced thus far in IPL 7 – have been a global talking point, Symonds revealed the extent to which modern-day players rehearse their power game. 

The 39-year-old, whose final appearance for Australia was a Twenty20 match against Pakistan in Dubai five years ago, said that even during his international career there was significant time and effort devoted to practising belting the ball into the grandstands.

During some training sessions, Symonds claimed he would clear the boundary as many as 50 or 60 times in order to familiarise himself with the zones that would become preferred hitting areas as well as the various distances of the boundary rope at different parts of the field. 

“We used to get on the bowling machine and (simulate) a centre-wicket situation,” Symonds said. 

“We would hit multiple balls in a session, trying to hit our zones, working on different lengths and then aiming our shots so that if we miscued one it would fall into gaps (in the field). 

“The way that we train has become a big part of hitting as well, so being able to hit a couple of hundred balls and hitting 50 or 60 sixes in a centre wicket batting session is a real handy thing to be able to do. 

“To be able to gauge how big a ground is, on top of being able to hit plenty of balls means you’ve got a good feel for the middle when you get out into the game situation.”

Symonds, who claimed he lost the drive to be forever in the public spotlight as is invariably the case for high-profile sportspeople, conceded he under-estimated and was left “exposed” by the level and nature of politics in the game especially in the wake of the 2008 ‘Monkeygate’ scandal involving the touring Indian team. 

Symonds said that while that issue did not drain him of his passion to play cricket at the highest level, he believed the incident was poorly handled and left him “embarrassed” and feeling that “I dragged my mates into something they didn’t deserve to be part of”.

He also applauded the appointment of his former teammate Darren Lehmann as coach of the Australian team in place of South African Mickey Arthur, adding that he did not think it was appropriate that coaches from outside Australia were brought in to oversee the national team. 

“For me it’s not a job for foreigners – Australians coach Australian cricket, we don’t need to look overseas,” Symonds said. 

“We’ve got enough good people to do that job here.

“He (Lehmann) is the right man for the job.

“He lets the boys have fun, he doesn’t treat them like a boarding house master and he can also give you a good kick in the tail if you need it.

“It’s the right blend.”

Symonds also revealed that he was the architect of the now traditional celebration of a wicket by a fielding team in which a bowler’s hair is ruffled, especially those bowlers who put a great deal of time and effort into their coiffure.

“The haircut is a very important part of modern cricket,” he said.

“So when the boys were putting all the gels and the crocodile tears or whatever it is they put in their do, I was a big one for trying to mess that up as soon as I got a chance.”