The Maxi Factor: Why Glenn Maxwell’s Test career is an ominous warning about current Aussie Selections

There’s a number of generally agreed facts about the Australian Test team:

• The top three is not settled
• Usman Khawaja’s output is declining
• Selectors have tried Steve Smith, Nathan McSweeney, Sam Konstas, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne and Konstas again since the retirement of Dave “The Farewell Tour” Warner
• Konstas’ efforts in the West Indies don’t help his cause
• Green’s four Tests batting three have yielded 188 runs at 23.50. The jury’s going to be out on whether he should stay at three for months
• 32 next June, there’s still plenty of time for Marnus to come back in if he can score runs in the Shield.

These factors bring us, not surprisingly to the Test career of Glenn James Maxwell. Wel, it nearly brings us to Maxi. Glenn Maxwell was Test player number 433 who debuted in 2013. But I want to start with Test player 426 (David Warner). We all know that Warner played over 100 Tests, and the last few were pretty much fluff.

But Warner managed to retain his position and remained Australia’s one long-term opener. The other opener, and the rest of the batting order, was about to go through some drastic changes.

Below are the 13 Aussie Test players 427 to 439 who debuted between 2011-2014. Players who opened the batting with Warner are highlighted with an *:

427. Ed Cowan* (18 Tests)
428. Matt Wade* (36 Tests)
429. Rob Quiney (Two Tests)
430. John Hastings (One Test)
431. Jackson Bird (Nine Tests)
432. Moises Henriques (Four Tests)
433. Glenn Maxwell* (Seven Tests)
434. Ashton Agar (Five Tests)
435. James Faulkner (One Test)
436. George Bailey (Five Tests)
437. Alex Doolan (Four Tests)
438. Mitchell Marsh (46 Tests)
439. Steve O’Keefe (Nine Tests)

Josh Hazlewood is Test player 440. Below is the next 13 the Test players 441 to 453 who debuted between 2014 and 2018:

441. Joe Burns* (23 Tests)
442. Adam Voges (20 Tests)
443. Peter Nevill (17 Tests)
444. Jon Holland (Four Tests)
445. Callum Ferguson (One Test)
446. Joe Mennie (One Test)
447. Peter Handscomb (20 Tests)
448. Nic Maddinson (Three Tests)
449. Matt Renshaw* (14 Tests)
450. Hilton Cartwright (Three Tests)
451. Cameron Bancroft* (10 Tests)
452. Chadd Sayers (One Test)
453. Aaron Finch* (Two Tests)

Travis Head is 454 and Marnus Labuschagne 455.

David Warner. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

That’s an incredible amount of turnover. You could make up a Test team from players who played four Tests or fewer. Overall it’s 26 players who played on average 10 Tests each. Of the 26 players seven opened the batting including Matt Wade in two Tests. No wonder it was so hard for Warner to make friends.

Now look at the eight Test player numbers 464 to 471 selected in Tests for Australia since 2023.

464. Mitchell Swepson (Four Tests)
465. Todd Murphy (Seven Tests)
466. Matthew Kuhnemann (Five Tests)
467. Nathan McSweeney (Three Tests)
468. Sam Konstas (Five Tests)
469. Beau Webster (Seven Tests)
470. Josh Inglis (Two Tests)
471. Cooper Connolly (One Test)

As we know, McSweeney was thrust into opener despite not opening for SA when the Steve Smith experiment failed. And then McSweeney was dropped for Konstas, who was then dropped for an out-of-form Labuschagne. Marnus, as everyone knows, is not an opener. Marnus, who is not an opener was then dropped for Konstas.

These positional changes take us back to Maxi’s seven Tests. The figure in brackets is his score in the respective innings)

Debut Test: both innings batted eight (13, 8)
Test 2: Batted seven and opener (10, 8)
Test 3: Batted four and three (37, 4)
Test 4: Batted six and seven (104, 2)
Test 5: Batted six and five (8, 45)
Test 6: Batted seven and six (23, 14)
Seventh and final Test: Batted five both innings (38, 25*)

In every Test played in the sub-continent, Maxi batted in a different position. How can you possibly learn how to play Test cricket when you start in a different position every Test? Although he did okay the first time he batted six.

You could argue Maxi was dropped for a lack of runs. That’s fair enough. Maxi made one century in his seven Tests. By comparison, Cowan made one in 18, Renshaw one in 14, Pete Handscomb one in 10, and Matt Wade one in nine. Mitch Marsh and Shane Watson averaged a century every 15 Tests. Certainly this is a dodgy comparison, but those other blokes also played Tests at home. And didn’t move between two and eight in the batting order.

Glenn Maxwell celebrates taking a wicket in 2017 in Bangladesh. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

So it looks like we are heading back to 2013 when the Maxi Factor first appeared on our screens. And despite some initial hype, it was considered a failure. Then in 2024 Maxi Factor: The Sequel was released and is set for an extended run. Players will be picked for a handful of Tests.

Batters will be moved up or down the order into unfamiliar positions (see: Wade, Marsh, Renshaw, Head, Smith, Maxwell). Openers will be dropped after a handful of failures despite showing they can score runs against good attacks in tough conditions (Burns, Renshaw, Bancroft, McSweeney, Konstas). There will be bizarre and desperate selections of players not even playing first-class cricket (Finch, quite possibly Jake Fraser-McGurk).

It’s looking even worse for the spinners. The hunt for 37-year-old Nathan Lyon’s replacement has already begun. Of the eight Test debutants selected since 2024, four have been tweakers (four and a half if you count Slug’s spin). Australia also debuted four spinners between 2013 and 2018. Again, it’s a dodgy comparison.

And here’s the gist: in the next few years Australia will farewell Khawaja, Smith, Starc, Hazlewood, Boland and Lyon. And there is absolutely no consensus amongst anyone, not least the selectors of who the likely replacements are.

The storyline of Maxi Factor: The Sequel is Australian selectors will churn through the names we’ve all spoken about on The Roar. Leigh Eustace has already started the Opener Power Rankings with this gem of an article.

They will all get a go. Some more than others. That a player will be dropped after a seemingly decent score against a tough attack won’t matter.

We will gripe about it. We will lament why Scott Boland isn’t in the starting XI every Test. Retiring players will have their farewells dragged out to generate much needed good-news stories for CA. And Maxi Factor: The Sequel will continue for at least a few years to mixed reviews.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.