Glenn Maxwell retirement from international cricket was announced by the Australia all-rounder at the age of 38, ending a career spanning 286 matches across three formats. He will continue to play T20 cricket for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League.
His final appearance for Australia came against Oman at the T20 World Cup earlier this year. He bowled three overs of off-spin for figures of 2-13 and was not required to bat.
Glenn Maxwell retirement follows an earlier ODI exit
Maxwell stepped away from one-day international cricket in June of last year. That format produced his most cited innings: 201 not out from 128 balls against Afghanistan at the 2023 World Cup, when Australia recovered from 91-7 to reach a target of 292 while he batted through injury.
The same tournament brought the fastest century in 50-over World Cup history, struck from 40 deliveries against the Netherlands. He won the 2023 and 2015 50-over World Cups with Australia and hit the winning runs in the 2021 T20 World Cup final.
Five T20 international hundreds shared with Rohit Sharma
Maxwell scored five T20 international centuries, a record he shares with India's Rohit Sharma. He is one of five Australian men to score a hundred in all three international formats, alongside Shane Watson, David Warner, Josh Inglis and Mitchell Marsh.
Across 149 ODIs, 130 T20Is and seven Tests, he scored more than 7,000 international runs and took 136 wickets. His final international act was therefore a bowling spell rather than an innings, with no batting requirement in his last match.
Selection direction and the 2028 Olympics
Speaking on the Final Word podcast, Maxwell said he had held a limited expectation of a farewell match at the MCG, and accepted the selectors' reasoning about the composition of the T20 squad.
"I suppose [I had] a small hope that I might have been able to potentially get a send-off game at the MCG. But I can completely understand the direction they're going with this [T20] squad."
He pointed to the turnover expected before the 2028 Olympics as the basis for exposing younger players to international pressure.
"There's going to be a lot of change over the next 12 to 24 months with the Olympics coming up [in 2028], and they've got to make sure they get their eyeballs on a few young guys coming through, making sure they're getting exposed to international pressure."
Maxwell said he had considered preparing for Australia's home T20 series against England in late November, which includes a fixture in Melbourne. That route is now closed by his own decision rather than by selection.
What changes next
Australia's T20 squad will be rebuilt around younger batters and all-rounders over the next two years, with Maxwell's middle-order finishing role and off-spin overs the two functions to be replaced. His Melbourne Stars commitments in the Big Bash League continue.
The original report is from skysports.com.
