Australia's men's team head coach Andrew McDonald has strongly cautioned Glenn Maxwell following an incident where the all-rounder was hospitalised after a night of partying. Reports from Australian media indicated that Maxwell attended a Brett Lee concert and collapsed backstage in an incident related to alcohol.
Addressing the issue on SEN, the Australia head coach said that Maxwell must fulfill his responsibilities and adhere to the expectations.
"I've spoken to Glenn, had a good chat with him yesterday around the incident," the 42-year-old told Australian outlet SEN.
"Him looking after himself needs to be a consideration moving forward. We've given him the opportunity to rest and rehab in that period of time and I suppose the lessons for him around that would be to take up his end of the bargain in that space and take care of himself," the coach further added.
This isn't the first instance where Maxwell has found himself in trouble. In 2022, right after the T20 World Cup, Maxwell suffered multiple leg fractures while partying at a friend's residence.
This injury sidelined Maxwell from the Australian team for several months. However, the all-rounder successfully returned to make a significant impact in ODI cricket in 2023.
Maxwell delivered two remarkable innings in the 2023 World Cup, particularly against the Netherlands and Afghanistan. These innings are widely regarded as among the best in World Cup history, if not in ODI cricket overall.
The coach of the Australian team talked about it and said that Maxwell is important for the team. He needs to look after himself.
"We want to see Glenn Maxwell playing cricket for the next three to four years for Australia. Can he get to the next World Cup in 2027 in South Africa? Who knows. But he's a key player in our white-ball formats.
When he is out there we're a far better team and on the back of that horrific injury that he did have, there's going to be some management things that are put in place around him," McDonald said.
"But we want Glenn Maxwell playing for Australia for as long as he can. We're going to have to do our end and Glenn is no doubt going to have to hold up his end of the bargain," he stressed the point once again.
McDonald concluded on a lighter note, expressing that the 35-year-old made an honest mistake, and he was relieved that no harm resulted from it.
"All the information he's given, he's had a few drinks and clearly the night has ended the way that it did and that's less than ideal from his perspective and our perspective. It's an honest mistake. He needs to obviously have a look at what he's doing at his end and is that the right thing to be doing at that time? Thankfully there's no harm out of it. He's well now," McDonald said.
"That's the other thing to consider in these instances, yes you can point the finger but there's a duty of care from our end and he's doing well and he looks as though he'll return to play in that West Indies series in those T20 games which we're excited for," the 42-year-old concluded.
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