Sports Desk
SYDNEY: Glenn Maxwell was recalled to the Australia one-day and Twenty20 squads for the tour of South Africa on Tuesday, returning to the international setup for the first time since taking a break to deal with mental health issues in October.
The explosive all-rounder was not picked for the January series in India but returns for the three one-dayers and three Twenty20s in South Africa on the back of 389 runs at 43.22 in the domestic Big Bash series.
“It is fantastic to have Glenn back in both squads given his brilliant form in the middle order for the Stars along with his results with the ball,” national selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement.
Maxwell, 31, told reporters in Melbourne the break did him a world of good. “I think I’ve come back a fresher player,” he said.
“I think I’ve been able to work out a few things off the field and get mentally right to perform and play well without any mental scars or anything like that going on behind.”
There was no place for the leading run-scorer in the Big Bash, however, with Marcus Stoinis’s 612 runs at 55.63 and Player of the Tournament honours not enough to end his six-month exile from international cricket.
“Marcus Stoinis is a standby player for each squad and was unlucky to miss out due to the makeup of the current top order,” Hohns said.
“It is terrific to have a backup player of his calibre in such good form.”
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh was handed another chance to steady his stop-start limited-overs career after he impressed with the Perth Scorchers.
“I haven’t played a one-day game for two years and a T20 for a year so it’s certainly nice to be back playing for Australia in white-ball cricket,” Marsh told reporters in Perth. Batsman Marnus Labuschagne retains his place in the one-day squad after scoring 54 and 46 in his first two ODI innings on the tour of India.
Australia start the tour of South Africa on Feb. 21 with the first Twenty20 in Johannesburg before the one-day series starts in Paarl on Feb. 29 and concludes with further matches in Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom in early March.
ODI squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Twenty20 squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
