Maxwell concluded his international career as one of the most destructive and decorated white-ball players.
Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has announced his retirement from international cricket, bringing an end to a career that spanned more than a decade and included several memorable performances.
The 38-year-old has now decided to step away from T20 Internationals, List A and first-class cricket after previously hanging up his boots from ODIs in June last year. His final appearance for Australia came against Oman in the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
Maxwell will continue playing T20 franchise cricket and remains committed to the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL), with his contract running through the 2027-28 season.
"We probably had numerous discussions before and after the T20 World Cup," Maxwell said on the Final Word podcast. "And it was it was pretty open ended. There wasn't any pressure from that side [Australia team management], and we decided to sort of leave the door open. There was a couple of series that were coming up; they were going to look to the future, and we saw that in Bangladesh with guys getting their opportunity and performing really well."
Maxwell, who was part of Australia’s 2015 and 2023 ODI World Cup victories and T20 World Cup triumph in 2021, wished he could've taken the field one last time for his country at his home ground – the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
"I suppose, a small hope or discussion 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 squad. There's going to be a lot of change, I suppose, over the next 12 to 24 months with the Olympics coming up [in 2028], and they've got to make sure that they get their eyeballs on a few young guys coming through and making sure that they're getting exposed to international pressure that you probably can't always get from a BBL fixture."
Maxwell recently led Belfast Wolves to the final of the inaugural European T20 Premier League. He turned up in a couple of One-Day Cup matches for Victoria.
"Post the last one-day game for Victoria, speaking to my team-mates and letting them know that that was going to be my last game for the state was probably harder than I thought it was going to be. Knowing that they've played such a huge role in my whole career, every time I've come back, had great team-mates there and a lot of support from the state. Yeah, I certainly got a little bit choked up speaking front of the group, but yeah, it's probably a time where I probably need to spend a little bit more time investing in the in the body to make sure I can get through the remaining couple of tournaments I've got in my career."
Maxwell said he had considered trying to get ready for Australia's home T20I series against England in late November, which includes a fixture in Melbourne.
"The option was there, but I was sort of ready to push the button on getting an injection on my knee to make sure I was ready for the BBL. So there was sort of a positive either way. And as soon as that door was shut, I was able to start to put some time back into my body. Eight weeks of solid rehab again to make sure I'm strong and ready for for the BBL coming up. So probably just the small fairy tale that you sort of see these your heroes and idols sort of go through. You start to sort of let your mind drift towards that, and probably no other format I probably would have asked for it, except for this one, where I feel like it's been it's almost felt like home over the last 15 years."
Glenn Maxwell concluded his international career as one of the most destructive and decorated white-ball players. He represented Australia in 130 T20Is, 149 ODIs and 7 Tests, scoring 2,897 runs, 3,990 runs and 339 runs respectively. He smashed a total of 10 international centuries and also picked up 128 wickets across formats.
His career will be forever remembered for producing the spectacular—most notably his unbeaten 201* against Afghanistan during the 2023 World Cup, widely hailed as one of the greatest one-day innings ever played.