Maxi opens up on emotional ton

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It was an emotional day in Ranchi for Australia allrounder Glenn Maxwell who for so long has been considered a player not cut out for the longest format of the game.

He scored a maiden Test ton and in the process became only the second man after Shane Watson to smash centuries in all three formats for Australia.

Maxwell’s innings was the best response he could have to his critics who felt he was too impatient to craft a quality Test knock, with his first 40 runs devoid of any boundaries or unnecessary risks.

Speaking after play on a day when he moved from his overnight score of 82 to 104 Maxwell said: “To get back in the side in the first place was something I really held close to my heart.

“I was so happy to be able to walk back on the field with the Australian Test team with the Baggy Green cap on, and I was just filled with joy when I got told I had the opportunity to do that again.

“I didn’t want to waste the opportunity, didn’t want to make it my last Test that’s for sure.”

The sense of relief Maxwell felt upon getting his hundred was plain, a streaky shot through the slip corden went to the boundary taking the Victorian past three figures and causing him to let out a roar of delight.

From the moment he took guard there was a sense that the occasion was not lost on Maxwell and he was determined to succeed and do justice to his enormous talent.

Maxwell might have felt that his Test career was over especially after he was publicly criticized by coach Darren Lehmann.

Maxi added: “I was in a place where I doubted whether I’d play Test cricket again, whether I’d have a chance to put the cap back on.

Maxi

“I just did everything I could, on and off the field.

“I trained as hard as I could. I changed things in my technique, I had numerous conversations with different people and tried to stay in the loop as much as I could and just kept on asking questions.

“Just changed people’s perception of what they thought Glenn Maxwell was doing.

“They knew exactly every time they’d go ‘what’s Maxi doing?’ – well we know he’s been training, we know he’s been in the gym, or we know he’s been over here (in India) playing golf, it doesn’t matter.

“I was always in contact with them and just having those conversations which made people lose those perceptions a little bit.

“You gain a bit of trust off people as well.

“For them to have that trust in me, it probably led to them giving me this opportunity.”

Maxwell was in danger of thinking himself into a panic overnight with a century looming large after he hit 82 on day one.

He went on: “It was probably more the emotions of the whole night I had as well.

“You go to sleep (Thursday night) 82 not out, you’ve just put on 150 with the skipper, I thought about it all night.

“I went through about 300 to 400 different scenarios that could’ve happened the next day, most of them weren’t good.

“So much emotion fell out of me as soon as I got that hundred.

“Even thinking about it now I’ve got a frog in my throat.

“It’s as special a moment as I’ve had in my career and hopefully it’s not the last.

“Hopefully, it just ticks something inside that I can continue to be consistent.

“That’s always been the biggest thing the coaches, selectors have always wanted is consistency.

“If I can keep producing long innings and batting long periods of time, building partnerships with other players that’s going to go a long way to firstly holding my spot but secondly winning games for Australia.”

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