Glenn Maxwell made headlines on Thursday ahead of a crucial tie against England as he was seen practising with wicket-keeping gloves as well. Regular keeper Matthew Wade recently came positive for COVID-19 which means the hosts need to have a backup ready as well. However, Australia’s indoor training session in Melbourne on Thursday witnessed Glenn Maxwell donning the wicket-keeping gloves and honing his skills behind the stumps, before the all-important World T20 encounter against arch-rivals England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
Both teams have so far won and lost a game each as well and the loser of their clash could be eliminated from the running for the semi-finals spot also. Australia have already suffered losses in the run-up to the fixture, with both Adam Zampa and Matthew Wade testing positive for COVID-19 as well. While the former has already recovered, Wade is yet to get a negative result but that won’t hamper his opportunity to play also. Notably, tournament guidelines dictate that as long as a player has minor symptoms, he can play but will have to travel separately from the rest of the team and won’t be allowed into the changing room alongside them as well.
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Maxi the keeper? 🤠 #T20WorldCup | @Gmaxi_32 pic.twitter.com/AEUivWfnWR
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 27, 2022
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However, if the team decide to keep him out of the lineup, they will need someone from the team to take his place as well. Reserve wicket-keeper Josh Inglis had to be replaced in the squad at the last minute, after suffering an injury while golfing, with Cameron Green who has no history of keeping wickets as well. Thus, either David Warner, Aaron Finch or Glenn Maxwell is likely to wear the gloves on Friday for their important game. While both Warner and Maxwell have kept in Tests before, with the latter having done it more recently in 2015, Finch has on occasion served as the keeper for the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League as well.
