Glenn Maxwell sustained a concussion in a golf-related incident on Monday, and as a result, he is not allowed to play in the ODI World Cup match against England in Ahmedabad.
One early evening on one of his regular days off, Maxwell was walking back from the clubhouse at Kalhaar Blues and Greens Golf Club, outside Ahmedabad, to the team bus when he lost his grip on the golf cart’s back. It is said to have been a brief trip of about 300 meters, and not enough carts were available for everyone to have a seat. He will likely need to follow concussion procedures for a period of six to eight days.
“He’s been truthful with the details he’s given,” Australia’s coach Andrew McDonald declared. He is doing well. He’ll begin some light exercise today, and we believe the return-to-play process will be rather simple. The good news, I suppose, is that there was only one injury, which could have been far worse than it is now.
“To be honest, I think it startled everyone when it was revealed that he had suffered a concussion and would miss a game. Nothing improper happened during the day; it was an obvious accident that, regrettably, has interfered with our ability to work as a team.”
Maxwell slipped at a friend’s birthday party last year, breaking his leg terribly and keeping him out of commission for almost five months. “The last 12 months, Glenn’s been up and down in terms of his recovery and it was a horrific injury that took place, but he’s been really good since he got here,” McDonald stated.
Due to their most recent defeat, Australia will have to substitute one of their important middle-order players for Marcus Stoinis or Cameron Green for the match against England. Marnus Labuschagne is now the favorite to start in the starting lineup.
In addition to being an essential second spinner alongside Adam Zampa, Maxwell struck a record-breaking forty-ball century against the Netherlands earlier in the competition. He bowled 42.3 overs in six matches at an economy rate of just 4.82. After making a comeback against New Zealand, Travis Head will now play a supporting role with the ball.
“They’ll be a small reshuffle, clearly, around the back end of our batting and no doubt that compromises a bit of our bowling and the way Glenn has performed with the ball,” McDonald stated. “There’s no doubt it leaves us a fraction exposed at the back end in terms of how Glenn’s been performing but Marcus Stoinis does become available, all things going well at training today.”
After their triumph over New Zealand at Dharamshala, the players had been granted two full days off, which they were free to utilize anyway they pleased. Some of the players and support staff participated in an internal golf competition, while others remained in the Himalayas and landed in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
The most recent player to suffer a bizarre injury while playing golf is Maxwell. Last year, Josh Inglis was ruled out of the 2022 T20 World Cup after he sliced his hand badly when a club cracked, while Jonny Bairstow missed the entire England winter due to a horrible broken leg.
McDonald emphasized, though, that he thought golf should remain legal since it was necessary to give players a break from cricket. “It was a fantastic couple of days,” he stated. “We feel as though that’s important when we’re on the road for extended periods of time… it’s an unfortunate accident.”
Because of the injury, McDonald made a suggestion that Labuschagne will probably keep his place in Australia’s XI and might even be involved with the ball: “He will be able to do some spinning chores and he’s been working on his offspin along with his legspin… If the surface calls for it, we believe we have enough solutions to slow down the game’s speed.”
With the World Cup going on, will Marnus Labuschagne bowl more frequently?
With the World Cup going on, will Marnus Labuschagne bowl more frequently?•Photos by Getty
Two players, Labuschagne and David Warner, have played in every one of Australia’s 14 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) since the beginning of September. This is despite the fact that they were left out of their World Cup team in August due to a poor performance in the format. He has struck at 77.30, scored 201 runs at 33.50, and batted at Nos. 4, 5, and 7 throughout the World Cup.
On Wednesday, Labuschagne stated, “I know I’m the right person for that role in the middle order if I’m picked.” “I believe I’ve handled the situations I’ve encountered well. When you take 40 of 60 against Sri Lanka out of context and don’t consider the overall context of the game, you could think, “Oh my, that’s really slow.”
However, that was precisely what we required to ensure that we placed ourselves in a favorable position, and we also obviously obtained the net run-rate [boost]. I believe my batting is doing nicely. In one-day cricket, scoring runs won’t come easy, especially if you’re in the middle order.”
Despite losing their opening two World Cup games, Australia is now in a strong position to go to the semi-finals after winning four straight games. They play Bangladesh and Afghanistan to complete the group stage after the England match.
Although Labuschagne feels that the World Cup has brought teams closer together, he stated, “It’s definitely a shock when a team like that is [played] six and [won] one… in response to a question regarding England’s troubles. However, that does imply that they are hazardous. England is a team that may be dangerous when they are struggling. Let’s not become fixated on their performance. We have to perform to the best of our abilities since they are a strong squad and individual players.”
