‘Can’t rest on just being a batsman’

MELBOURNE: Glenn Maxwell has said his offspin will remain crucial if he is to nail down a long-term place in Australia’s Test-match plans. Batting is Maxwell’s primary skill, but he does not want to go down the path taken by Steven Smith, whose rapid rise since his comeback to the Test team in 2013, after two years out, followed a decision to focus more on his batting.

“I don’t think I can rest on just being a batsman,” Maxwell told AAP. “I know Steve Smith went that way when he lost his Test spot, not really bowling much at all. But I don’t think I can go that direction. I have to keep working on both parts of my game and make sure they’re good enough.

“I’ve decided not to play in England for the first time in four years. It might be a good chance to get a pre-season under my belt and spend a bit of time working on my game.”

Maxwell was part of the Test squad that was scheduled to tour Bangladesh last year, but did not do so owing to security concerns. But he has not found a place in the 15-man squad for Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka in July-August, with Moises Henriques, a seam-bowling allrounder, taking his place.