Published - | Updated - January 9, 2025 03:28 pm
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Glenn Maxwell selected for Sri Lanka tour:
Ricky Ponting feels it is a backward step for Australia to take Glenn Maxwell for the Sri Lanka tour. The Australia team will leave in the last week of January as they have already confirmed their place in the World Test Championship final. The all-rounder has talked about making it to the squad for the Sri Lanka tour especially when the Australia team wants to have an extra spinner in their camp on the turning track in Galle. Ricky Ponting does not think it can happen.
Ricky Ponting I can’t really see how he can do that. It’s nothing against Maxwell. He has been a fantastic international player. But I think it will be a backward step for the Australia Test team if they take Glenn Maxwell for a one-off tour. It is better to get some youngsters in and around the group and give them a taste of it. Sometimes going on one of the toughest tours will be the fastest way to learn as a youngster.
If Australia had not won 3-1 against India, the situation would have been different
Justin Langer, who was part of the conversation, said that if things had been different and Australia were not assured of playing in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, there could have been a case for Glenn Maxwell to play in the Sri Lanka tour.
The former Australian coach agreed with Ricky Ponting that the series against Sri Lanka should be used to include youth in the team.
Langer said that if things had been a little different, the series against India would not have been 3-1 and we would not have been confident of playing in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, there would have been a case for it. But since we are not, the selectors have a great opportunity to give some young players a chance.
The Test selectors have ignored Ricky Ponting’s warning and selected young Cooper Connolly in Australia’s team for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour, replacing Glenn Maxwell. The selectors on Thursday named a 16-player squad for the two-Test series starting January 29 and Maxwell was left out of the squad amid rumours that he could be picked.
But on Wednesday night former Test captain Ricky Ponting said it would be a step backwards to pick Glenn Maxwell at this stage of his career. Maxwell has not played much first-class cricket in recent times and has become a white-ball specialist.
Ricky Ponting said I can’t really see how he could be selected. It’s nothing against Maxwell. He’s been a fantastic international player for a long time. But I think it would be a step backwards for the Australian Test team if they held Glenn Maxwell back for a one-off tour.
I think they should get some youngsters in and around the group and let them know what it’s like. Sometimes going on one of the toughest tours, as a youngster, would be the quickest way to learn.
Glenn Maxwell during the Test match against Bangladesh. Glenn Maxwell has played seven Test matches in his entire career. Ricky Ponting winced to see Cooper Connolly at the Test level Ricky Ponting revealed that he is very keen to have someone like Connolly selected in the team and on Thursday the decision proved true. The 21-year-old is also a spinning all-rounder and has scored runs at an average of 61.80 in just four first-class matches with Western Australia.
He has shown that he is at the top level with some excellent performances in the BBL with the Perth Scorchers this season. Ricky Ponting said this team needs to be rebuilt and who they bring in to do that will be really interesting. I think a player like Cooper Connolly is best suited for Sri Lanka who has performed brilliantly in the last few times. In the BBL we know that he can bowl left-arm off-spin.
