Mitchell Johnson names Glenn Maxwell to lead Australia: Former Australian fast bowler wants the all-rounder to lead Australia in ODIs.
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Former Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson allured a lot of attention after he named Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell to lead the national side in the looming ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. As expected and admitted by Johnson himself, his words received some strange reactions from the Australian fans.
Citing limited-overs captain Aaron Finch’s poor form as the criteria, Johnson advocated for Maxwell in his column for Perth Now. “My decision to pick Glenn Maxwell as captain might raise eyebrows,” Johnson wrote.
Johnson, who was a part of the World Cup winning Australian squad in 2015, has played with Maxwell during the world event in 2015, and an overall of 40 international matches. The duo also shared the dressing room for Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.
Yes Aaron Finch is a poor captain and in terrible form
Warner Stoinis Smith Marsh Maxwell Handscomb Turner Cummins Starc Zampa Richardson— Seth Cricket (@SethSharma7) January 20, 2019
Maxi for me. Seems like a leader on field. Finch looks relaxed and clueless , sometimes perception is everything when it comes to leadership,Finch doesn’t seem inspiring to his teammates.
— Arun Singh (@CA3AS) January 20, 2019
Having played under Maxwell for KXIP in the IPL, Johnson might have witnessed an otherwise unnoticed side of the 30-year old cricketer.
“But having played with him both for Australia and in the Indian Premier League, I can say that this polarising cricketer is misunderstood. He might not be your typical first-choice captain, though clearly Melbourne Stars have seen something in Maxwell. Leadership has helped him mature, helped to settle him and bring the best out of him,” Johnson added.
“I spent a lot of time with Maxwell in the IPL at both Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab and he was always very vocal in team meetings… particularly with planning such as fielding positions for certain players. He knows opposition players very well and he doesn’t forget much.
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“He reads the game well and that’s essential for a captain. Maxi is not a leader who will just let things roll on, either. He thinks outside the square. He is 30 now and knows the game inside out,” Johnson further added.Johnson also made the bold decision of dropping Test vice-captain Josh Hazlewood from his World Cup squad.
“Hazlewood hasn’t played a lot of one-day cricket in recent times and I decided the five quicks I selected provided the best balance,” he said.
Among Johnson’s other changes to the ODI squad, he was against picking wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey, instead hinted at playing Peter Handscomb at a specialist wicket-keeper batsman.
Outstanding article here from @MitchJohnson398 he’s nailed this.
— Mark Alvey (@alvey5) January 20, 2019
Cmon…..make it happen.!!
I’m sure it will turn out to be a perfect selection……#WC19— aussies.maxi_fc (@AussiesFc) January 20, 2019
“Carey is an excellent keeper, however, I remain unconvinced about his batting. He has been opening the batting, but that will not be required should Warner be picked after his 12-month suspension. D’Arcy Short is also a more appealing option for me at the top of the order.
“Handscomb offers a great package as the specialist ‘keeper. He is batting well in the shorter formats and I don’t see giving him the gloves as a compromise,” Johnson concluded.
