Glenn Maxwell is an Australian cricketer who can bat explosively, bowl effectively, and field brilliantly. The all-rounder represents Australia in test matches, One Day International (ODI) matches, and Twenty20 matches. He has played for the ‘Victoria’ and ‘Melbourne Stars’ in Australian domestic cricket, as well as for the ‘Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals),’ ‘Mumbai Indians,’ and ‘Kings XI Punjab’ in the ‘Indian Premier League (IPL).’ He plays for the ‘Lancashire County Cricket Club’ in English County Cricket. He is a right-handed batsman who bowls with a right-arm offbreak.He began his cricket career as a batsman for a local club, then as a pace and spin bowler, and eventually as a specialist fielder. His teammates dubbed him “The Big Show” because of his proclivity for playing dangerous shots with obvious ease, which is known to stress out such a fielding captain. He’s also the owner of a slew of records and the recipient of several “Player of the Match” honours. In English club cricket, as well as domestic and international cricket for Australia, he continues to perform admirably.
Childhood and Adolescence
Glenn James Maxwell was born on October 14, 1988, in Kew, Victoria, Australia, to Neil Maxwell and Joy Maxwell. Daniel Maxwell, his older brother, is his sibling.
He was asked to bat left-handed in primary school because he was too competitive for the other boys to bowl him out.
He began playing youth cricket for the Victorian ‘South Belgrave Cricket Club’ at a young age.
Career
Glenn Maxwell began his professional cricket career in July 2009, when he joined the ‘Victoria’ state side.
He represented the Australian Institute of Sports in the ‘Hong Kong Cricket Sixes’ tournament and the ‘Emerging Players Tournament’ in January 2010.
He made his first-class debut for ‘Victoria’ against ‘NSW’ in February 2011.
When he hit the fastest 50 in Australian domestic One-Day cricket during the ‘Ryobi One-Day Cup,’ he became an instant phenomenon.
He played two IPL games for the Delhi Daredevils in 2012, as well as club cricket for the English teams South Wilts and Hampshire Second XI. He made his ODI and T20I debuts against Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively during Australia’s UAE tour. The year, he also competed in the ‘ICC World Twenty20.’
He made his test debut against India in March 2013. That year, he represented the IPL’s Mumbai Indians and also featured in the ICC Champions Trophy.
In 2014, he was a standout performer with his IPL team, the ‘Kings XI Punjab.’ In the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, he maintained his high level of play. His form dipped during a test series against Pakistan in the UAE, but he fared better in the one-day internationals.
Despite his poor form, he was chosen for Australia’s “2015 ICC Cricket World Cup” team in 2015, where his explosive batting turned heads. He hit a 51-ball century against Sri Lanka at the SCG during the World Cup, which was the fastest century by an Australian in ODIs and the second-fastest in World Cup history. However, he did not do well in the IPL that year, and he was subsequently dropped from the ‘Kings XI Punjab’.
Maxwell played ODIs against India, New Zealand, West Indies, and South Africa in various international tournaments in the 2015-16 season after playing club cricket in England for a while.
He scored an undefeated 145 off 65 deliveries against Sri Lanka in a T20I match in 2016, after missing the Test and ODI matches during Australia’s 2016 Sri Lanka tour.
In March 2017, he scored his first test century against India in Ranchi, despite match-fixing charges. In the 2017 IPL season, he also became captain of the ‘Kings XI Punjab,’ but failed to make an impact.
During the 2017-18 season, he put in a strong showing in the ‘Big Bash League’ (BBL), as well as assisting Australia in winning the ‘Trans-Tasman Tri-Series.’ In 2017, he also made his first double century in the ‘Sheffield Shield’ race.
He was signed by the ‘Delhi Daredevils’ for USD 1.75 million for the 2018 IPL season, but he did not do well. Cricket Australia awarded him a national contract for the 2018-19 season in April. In the ‘2018 Tri-Series,’ he led Australia to a resounding win over England.
He was cut from Australia’s 2018 UAE test tour squad after match-fixing charges resurfaced in 2017, but he was called up for the T20 matches.
With his knockout century and swashbuckling innings in February 2019, he guided Australia to a dazzling T20 victory over India.
In March 2019, he shone in the ODI series between Pakistan and Australia in the United Arab Emirates.
He was named to Australia’s ‘2019 Cricket World Cup’ squad in April of this year.
He currently plays for the Lancashire County Cricket Club in England, the Melbourne Stars in the Australian Twenty20 league, and Victoria in first-class cricket.
Achievements & Awards
He became Australia’s fastest domestic half-century scorer in the ‘Ryobi One-Day Cup’ in 2011.
He became the joint-fastest 50 for Australia in one-day internationals in a match against India in 2013.
He received the ‘Man of the Match’ award four times during the 2014 IPL season.
He became the ‘fastest ODI century by an Australian’ and the ‘second-fastest century in World Cup history’ during the ‘2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.’ That year, he was also named the ‘Australian Twenty20 International Player of the Year.’
During Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2016, he became the first player to reach a century in his first T20I match as an opening batsman, and he also had the second-highest individual score in T20I history. That year, he was also named the ‘Australian ODI Player of the Year.’
He made history in 2017 when he became the second Australian batsman to score centuries in all three forms of cricket during a test match against India in Ranchi, joining a small group of cricketers who had achieved this plateau in their careers.
During Australia’s T20 tour of India in February 2019, he became the first Australian and third cricketer in the world to score three T20 hundreds. In the same season, he was called “Man of the Match” and “Man of the Series.”