Glenn Maxwell to Glenn Max-UN-well.
Glenn Maxwell sat in the downpour for over an hour after hearing his leg break at a backyard birthday celebration, revealing the terrible details of how he sustained the horrific injury that he believes would derail his immediate prospects of a long-desired Test return.
From his home in Melbourne’s southeast, the bedridden allrounder spoke on cricket.com.au’s Unplayable Podcast about how an innocuous joke at a 50th birthday party with one of his former schoolteachers resulted in his shattering his left fibula.
Maxwell has now had surgery to correct the fracture, and while the limited-overs great admits his ambition of a Test recall for next year’s India tour is hanging by a thread, he hopes the setback will actually help him extend his career.
The party for an official at Maxwell’s Premier Cricket side Fitzroy-Doncaster was being hosted in a tiny backyard area laid with synthetic grass that had become treacherous due to the incessant rain Melbourne has been experiencing in recent months.
In the words of Glenn Maxwell
“One of my mates, who was also one of my schoolteachers, we were laughing about something and I pretended to chase him off somewhere,” Maxwell said, adding that his ex-teacher was “absolutely devastated” after the incident.
“I reckon we both took about three or four steps out there, and both slipped at the same time. I just got my foot stuck a little bit, and he fell, unfortunately at a really bad angle and landed straight on my leg.
“It just snapped. I heard and felt every part of it. It was pretty painful.
“I was screaming a bit and he was like, ‘please tell me you’re joking, please tell me you’re joking’.”
“I probably didn’t sleep for two days while I was in agony,” he said. “It was it was a pretty horrible couple of days. My wife was unbelievable through it all.
“I shattered my fibula. So that one I think was the first snap I heard. It was snapped in half, but it also shattered through the bone.”
“But I think that’s probably why I don’t want to sort of set any dates or timelines of when I can get back. I would dearly love to be okay for that but I’m a slave to how my body recovers and how quickly I can I suppose get the strength back into it and then get back playing cricket again.”
Maxwell has long hoped to add to his seven Test caps, the last of which came more than five years ago. He has been a cornerstone of Australia’s T20 side, which won the World Cup last year but failed to defend their title at home, and of the 50-over side, which is aiming for a sixth men’s ODI title in India next year.
Maxwell revealed that Victoria’s home matches against Tasmania this week and NSW next week had long been highlighted on his calendar as a rare respite in the international calendar, giving him an opportunity to showcase his red-ball talents.
