Australia‘s star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has pulled himself out from The Hundred tournament in England, citing workload reasons. Maxwell was all set to play for the London Spirit on a contract of £125,000 (USD 160,000) in the marquee The Hundred but was told to withdraw from the event by Cricket Australia (CA) considering the ODI World Cup in India later this year and T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the US in 2024. Maxwell’s compatriot Mitchell Marsh will not be seen playing in the English tournament as well.
Maxwell most recently was seen representing Warwickshire in the T20 Blast 2023. The T20 Blast is also an event conducted by England Cricket Board (ECB), just like The Hundred. Although Warwickshire had a decent outing in the recently concluded T20 Blast and reached the Quarter Finals of the event, Maxwell expressed his disappointment over the busy schedule of the tournament.
Speaking to BBC radio, Maxwell highlighted how T20 Blast’s restless schedule drains a player’s body both mentally and physically. He even declared the newly launched Major League Cricket (MLC) tournament to be a much better option for an overseas player as compared to the T20 Blast. The 34-year-old Aussie cricketer concluded by lauding the MLC structure.
“I think now the Major League Cricket tournament’s come in, that’s going to affect the Blast really badly. When you’ve got an opportunity to go over to America for two weeks, compared to 14 games here with a stressful schedule where you’re travelling all over the place. There was one week where we played on a Tuesday in Durham, Thursday in Leeds and then Friday here in Birmingham – that’s three games in four days with a day’s travel in between,” said Maxwell.
“It can really drain you, your body and mentally. I found that very tough this year and I think with the Major League being a lot more attractive, bigger crowds, I think there’s eight [six] overseas players per team, the excitement of a new tournament, it’s only two weeks long. Less of a burden on your schedule. I think it’s going a lot more attractive to some overseas players. I would say it does the same thing as T20 cricket but it’s not relevant to the international schedule,” he added.
