Big Bash League Drills Helped Score 200 Against Afghanistan, Says Australia's Glenn Maxwell

Once in a lifetime. A true blitzkrieg. The greatest of escapades. Words that merely begin to encompass what was achieved by Glenn Maxwell in his WC innings against Afghanistan.

Glenn Maxwell’s magical double-century against Afghanistan had the world gasping in disbelief, as the lone man took it upon himself to chase down a mammoth total in classic Maxwell fashion — heavily peppered with boundaries and sixes galore.

Maxwell, despite suffering from debilitating body cramps, stood his ground, literally, as the Aussie just whacked every single delivery thrown at him, and doled out the ultimate disappointment for Jonathan Trott’s Afghanistan squad.

His innings, in spite of his hobbled nature, consisted of 20 boundaries and 10 sixes — amassing a mind-blowing 140 runs off his 201* in just boundaries — and required Maxwell to fall back on his brute strength and timing to accumulate the runs.

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When asked about how he had gotten to develop this fashion of play and how it enabled him to save Australia’s World Cup hopes in their game against Afghanistan, Maxwell attributed a lot of the credit to the drills he used to practice during his time in the Big Bash League (BBL), back in Australia.

“One of the things I used to work on before every BBL game – going back about eight or nine years – was foot drills where the first 12 balls I’d face I’d stay dead still but try and hit them as far as I could,” he told the Club Prairie Podcast.

“Whatever the length, I basically had to hold my top body for as long as I could to get the right trajectory to feel like I hit a six. Working on that upper-body movement without using your legs is actually a good way of finding out where your ideal heave point is.

“Going back to that [innings against Afghanistan], I obviously had to tinker a little bit with actual bowlers not just bowling half-volleys outside off stump but bowling different areas. Just relying on stuff I had worked on in early years and try to adapt as quickly as I could.”

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Now, with Maxwell, it has never been just about his brute strength. In fact, a lot has to do with his shot selection as well. As the dominating middle-order batter he is, Maxwell has never been one to shy away from going for the cheekiest of attempts when he senses the opportunity to punish he opposition. Even his innings against Afghanistan was laced with a variety of scoops, pulls, and slogs all across the field.

So, when asked what helped him prepare for such unorthodox shots, Maxwell had this to say:

“I think it has a lot to do with the positions I get myself in on a golf course where I’m stuck behind a tree and I’ve to throw my wrists around or flick it around. It’s little things like that. I feel like it allows you to be inventive and tests the boundaries.

“I feel like my hands can get me out of trouble if the ball is not quite in that areas and do I give myself a few options for different lengths, ” explained Maxwell.

Whatever the case may be, what’s is undeniable is the sheer greatness of that innings. Maxwell’s 201* will undoubtedly go down as one of the best ODI innings by a batter ever. And Australia will surely be hoping for Maxwell to retain the same form as they aim to clinch their record-seventh World Cup after the disastrous start they had to their campaign.