Glenn Maxwell is finding his best form at the ripe age of 35. In the space of a few weeks, he’s become a phenomenon. Whether it’s falling off golf carts, or hitting the world’s premier bowlers to all parts of a group.
How has this all come about? Well, the unorthodox, swashbuckling batter isn’t the first to rise at a late age.
In fact, it’s becoming a significant trend in cricket when you think of the form of Shane Watson and Usman Khawaja late in their careers.
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Going through a deep dive of Maxwell’s statistics, it’s clear to see his career has been up and down like a yo-yo.
Since making his ODI debut in 2012, the right-hander has averaged above 40 in just four years: 2012, ’15, ’20 and ’23.
Maxwell debuted the same year in T20s, and in five years has averaged over 30. Albeit, in 2015 he played just one game, scoring 44.
For an explosive lower order batsman like Maxwell though, it’s hard to take his statistics on face value. At times, his role has been to score a quick 30 or 40 off 25 balls, much like Marcus Stoinis now.
And with an aggressive attitude, it’s never a guarantee that it will come off.
However, in the past year everything seems to have clicked into gear.
In Tuesday morning’s (AEDT) T20 against India he went berserk, hitting an unbeaten 104, with his century coming off 47 balls, the equal fastest hundred for an Australian in the format.
Throughout the ODI World Cup, Maxwell produced his career best form, hitting two centuries, which included an insane 201 not out against Afghanistan.
The other was an extraordinary 40-ball century against the Netherlands, the fastest ever in a World Cup.
Incredibly, the Aussie star wasn’t feeling up for it beforehand.
”I’ve been pretty crook all day so I wasn’t really expecting much,” Maxwell said after that innings. “(That) probably cleared my head a little bit to be able to just go out there and play.
“I was sitting in the changing room and I didn’t really want to bat, which is a bit different than last game where I was way too eager to get out there. We talked about over-arousal levels and I probably reached double maximum if you couldn’t tell.
“I was a little bit more chilled when I got out there. I didn’t have many high hopes. I’ve been pretty cooked the last couple of days. Coincided with the sleepless night last night with the family over.”
The important thing about Maxwell’s innings though is they’ve come when his side needed them most.
In the past, the Victorian has been ridiculed for not producing when Australia was under pressure.
When the man plays the way he does with switch hits and aggressive shots across the line, failures are bound to happen, but much of the frustration has come from fans and experts knowing the undoubted potential The Big Show has. Many still believe his seven Tests aren’t enough.
Incredibly, this run of form has come after Maxwell broke his leg a year ago during an “innocuous” incident at a party.
Throw in an injury after falling off a golf cart during the World Cup, and it’s a year like no other.
Maxwell’s comments around a “chilled” approach to his hundred speaks volumes of the calm changeroom Pat Cummins has built.
That attitude directly correlates with the late peaks of Khawaja and Watson.
Khawaja previously explained to Wide World of Sports he “just didn’t give a shit” when recalled into the Australian Test side. His new lease on cricket has transformed him into one of the world’s best opening batters.
Watson embarked on a late bloom too. His penchant for getting out in the 90s as an opener in Tests was the frustration of many, including himself.
He finished with 28 half-centuries and four tons, a conversion rate of 14.29.
The former Test opener wrote in his book how the perils of over-thinking hurt him during the nineties.
“It was during a Test match in the 2010-11 Ashes series in Perth. I was batting really well, and I was on 95 … At this very moment in time I started to move my mind forward to think ‘wow this is going to be my first Ashes Test hundred, how am I going to celebrate? How amazing is this going to feel? What am I going to do?’,” he wrote in Winning The Inner Battle.
“My mind moved to the outcome … I ended up getting lbw to Chris Tremlett … my mind had moved forward to the future and the outcome, instead of just staying present in the execution mode and doing that over and over again, and what would be would be.”
Advice from his former captain put Watson on a strong path later in his career.
“Interestingly, when I was having all those troubles getting out in the 90s I talked to Michael Clarke about it,” he continued.
“He said ‘my goal is actually 150, it’s not 100. So, when I’m in the 90s I don’t care because my goal is to get 150, not 100’.
“That’s why he hardly got out in the 90s. He just cruised through it. I couldn’t believe how easy he made it look. But he said ‘my goal is way above that so that I’m just going to continue to focus on what I’m doing’.”
In 2016, Watson’s last year playing for Australia, he scored 298 runs at 49.66 in T20 cricket.
From 2018 to 2020, his IPL form made him one of the best batters in the competition.
In 2018, he hit 555 runs from 15 games, averaging 39.64.
An innings he highlights in his book was in the IPL final that year. Chennai were chasing 179 and Watson had soaked up 10 balls with no runs. When his opening partner Faf du Plessis was gone for 10, the Super Kings were 1-16 from four overs and in deep trouble.
In the blink of an eye though, Chennai had won the game in 18.3 overs with Watson scoring 117 off 57 balls and awarded player of the match.
How did he do it?
“I kept the exact same mindset of being aggressive … and trusting my instincts,” he wrote.
When you look at Glenn Maxwell now, he’s a man simply trusting his instincts.
The entertainer has been part of a revolution for cricket, hitting the type of shots that have been ridiculed for years.
But he’s playing his way, and rewriting his legacy with each match turning innings.