Maxwell confirms opening role in T20i is temporary after saying that he is ‘Warming Heady’s seat ahead of his return.
As Australia looks to solidify their lineup as they prepare for the 2026 World Cup, Glenn Maxwell anticipates that his move to open the batting in the T20I series against the West Indies will be short-lived once Travis Head returns for the home series against South Africa in August.
To give Cameron Green a chance at second drop, Maxwell batted at No. 5 in the opening game of the series, one spot behind his usual No. 4 position, where he has batted 61 times in his career.
Then, when Tim David returned from injury for game two, without the resting Head and injured backup opener Matthew Short, he was moved to open for just the fourth time in his career.
Australia expected a lot of spin to be bowled in the powerplay, therefore Maxwell, who has opened the batting with scores of 145 not out and 66 in previous T20Is, was elevated to the top of the order. At the small Warner Park in St Kitts, both teams have steered clear of spin bowlers, whereas such was the case in Jamaica.
Maxwell seemed menacing throughout all three innings and returned scores of 12 off 10, 20 off 7, and 47 off 18. However, he maintains that he is unlikely to remain there after this series, as Josh Inglis appears to be content at No. 3 and Head is expected to partner captain Mitchell Marsh going ahead.
“It’s been great fun being at the top, but I’m sure I’m just warming Heady’s seat until he comes back,” Maxwell said. “I think the way we’re probably going to set up our T20 side heading forward is you’ve got Travis up the top, you’ve got Mitch Marsh who is captaining us brilliantly at the moment.
“Ingo is doing a great job at No.3 and the rest of the order falls into place around that. We’ve got some unbelievable power hitting at the moment, we’ve seen some guys really put their hand up – Tim David, Mitch Owen and Cameron Green – throughout the middle.
“They’re three pretty big blokes with big reach and they hit the ball an absolute mile so it’s great to have those guys with that extra bit of power in the middle-order.
“It’s not something we’ve had an abundance of over the years and to have that at our disposal at the moment is pretty exciting.”