Glenn Maxwell, one of the architects of Australia's World Cup wins in 2015 and 2019, announced his retirement from one-day cricket with immediate effect. Maxwell, who possibly played one of the greatest ever individual knocks in the format against Afghanistan on one leg in the 2023 World Cup in Mumbai, will fall just 10 runs short of completing 4,000 ODI runs and 150 caps in the format.
Maxwell confirmed his retirement on the Final Word Podcast while revealing that he didn't see himself making it to the 2027 ODI World Cup and hence, wanted the team and the selectors to have someone younger in that position settle into the role. "I felt like I was letting the team down a little bit with how the body was reacting to the conditions," Maxwell said on the Podcast.
"I had a good chat with [Australia chair of selectors] George Bailey and I asked him what his thoughts were going forward. We talked about the 2027 World Cup and I said to him, 'I don't think I am going to make that, it's time to start planning for people in my position to have a crack at it and make the position their own'. Hopefully, they get enough of a lead-in to hang onto that role.
"I always said I wasn't going to hand my position over if I felt like I was still good enough to play. I didn't want to just hold on for a couple of series and almost play for selfish reasons.
"They are moving in such a clear direction so this gives them the best look at what the line-up is leading into that next World Cup. I know how important that planning is," Maxwell added.
Maxwell formed a key middle-order engine room with Matthew Wade and Brad Haddin over the years, followed by Marcus Stoinis and now Alex Carey. With his gameplay and approach in the middle and latter overs was the backbone for Australia in the return of its glory days of one-day cricket from 2015 onwards.
Apart from scoring all those runs at an unthinkable strike rate of 126.70 over a 13-year-long period, Maxwell also took 77 wickets with his off-spin, almost becoming an irreplaceable component of the Australian team. His all-round skills are probably why he is still one of the most sought-after white-ball players in the world.
That strike rate is still the highest for anyone scoring 1,035 runs in ODIs and more, apart from Andre Russell (130.22 after scoring 1034 runs). Maxwell, who made his ODI debut in 2012, admitted that he was upgraded to the ODI setup a bit prematurely, but was glad that he could have his moment in Mumbai, becoming the first player in cricket history to score an ODI double century while chasing and by a middle-order batter and that came on the back of a 40-ball century in Delhi against the Netherlands in the same tournament.
"I'm extremely fortunate that I was able to have my moment," Maxwell said of his unbeaten 201. "Everything that you've worked hard for, the peak of your powers, being able to put it in front of the world to see and it's almost like saying, this is the best of me, you can either take it or leave it, but this is all I've got."
This is the third consecutive ODI retirement in a span of four months for Australia after Stoinis and Steve Smith since February. Stoinis and Smith announced theirs on either side of the Champions Trophy and Maxwell has left too.