Australian star Glenn Maxwell will miss the Cricket World Cup clash with England this weekend after suffering a concussion in a freak golf cart accident.
Maxwell reportedly slipped and fell off the back of the cart, suffering the head injury which will force him to miss Saturday’s match.
While the all-rounder is said to be recovering well it’s a major blow for the Aussie side, given his recent form at the World Cup.
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Maxwell fired a blistering 44-ball 106 against the Netherlands last week, and added 41 in the tight win over New Zealand last time out. He has also taken four wickets.
“In transporting him back from the clubhouse to the team bus, Glenn Maxwell came off the back of a car and has suffered a small concussion, so he will go into concussion protocols for the next period of time and will unfortunately miss the England game,” Australian coach Andrew McDonald said.
“There’ll be no replacement (in the squad) as such, he’ll go into six to eight days concussion protocol. So they said that takes into account the England game, he’ll be unavailable for that game. And then clearly within the squad we’ve got some players who become available Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green’s there available as well, but we haven’t made that decision as yet.
“The guys were ferried off on carts. Glenn and a few other players jumped on the back of carts and unfortunately he lost his grip on the way back to the team bus and sustained that injury. Over the last couple of days he’s been assessed.
“We feel as though it’ll be a relatively straightforward return to play protocol with where he’s at at the moment.”
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It’s the latest unfortunate accident to befall Maxwell after he broke his leg, and nearly lost his foot, pretending to chase a mate at a 50th birthday party.
The injury will ensure Aussie selectors don’t have to make a difficult decision between dropping Marnus Labuschagne or giving Marcus Stoinis his spot back.
“I hope so (I hold my spot),” Labuschagne said this week, before Maxwell’s injury news became public.
“I’m not a selector but I think over the last 13 games I’ve added a lot of value to the team especially in the middle overs. I think we know what’s important in this country is how you play the middle overs. And I think I can add a lot of value. So I hope so. But once again, that’s not my job. It’s someone else’s job. So I’ll just keep making sure if I get an opportunity I keep scoring runs.
“At the end of the day, you need to keep scoring runs, right. You need to keep scoring runs, you need to keep winning your team games, and I’ve got to keep trying to do that.
“The selectors have to weigh up the value for them (with) the extra batter or the all-rounder and that’s not my job. We haven’t seen the conditions yet. So we’re not sure what that looks like, but I know if I’m picked I’m the right person for that role in the middle order.”
