Home Cricket News The old BBL drill that helped Maxwell pull off a miracle against Afghanistan

The old BBL drill that helped Maxwell pull off a miracle against Afghanistan

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The old BBL drill that helped Maxwell pull off a miracle against Afghanistan


One of the reasons why Glenn Maxwell’s hardly credible double century against Afghanistan in Mumbai is considered the greatest ODI knock of all time is because he suffered from back spasms and severe cramps in the lower half of his body, and yet He managed to hit a total of 21 fours and 10 sixes to lead Australia to victory, mainly using his arm and upper body strength.

Maxwell attributed that ability to a pre-match batting drill he used to practice about eight or nine years ago in the BBL, to hit some big boundaries.

“One of the things I used to work on before every BBL match, going back about eight or nine years, was foot drills where the first 12 balls I faced I would stay still but try to hit them as far as I could. “could,” he told the Prairie Club Podcast. “Whatever the length, I basically had to hold my upper body as long as I could to get the right trajectory and feel like I hit a six. Working on that upper body movement without using my legs is actually a good way to find out where your ideal elevation point is. Getting back to that [innings against Afghanistan]Obviously I had to play a bit with the real bowlers, not just bowling half-volleys outside off stump, but bowling in different areas. “Just relying on things I had worked on in the first few years and trying to adapt as quickly as I could.”

When asked what helped him prepare for such unorthodox shots, Maxwell said: “I think it has a lot to do with the positions I put myself in on a golf course where I’m stuck behind a tree and have to hit my shots. dolls “Move it or move it. It’s little things like that. I feel like it allows you to be inventive and test the limits.”

Maxwell also revealed on the podcast that the worst cramps in her body were in her calf muscle, and that at one point the middle toe on her right foot “started bending backwards” and combined with the back spasms, her “body was beginning to close.”

When at one point he fell to the ground and lay due to cramps just after completing a single, he was treated by the team physio who told him that leaving the field would be worse because Maxwell’s body would cool down and he would go back down the road. The long staircase from the Wankhede Stadium dressing room would become very tough. The physiotherapist then advised Maxwell to slow down as the batsman also “couldn’t control my breathing” and told him to hydrate more and continue batting.

Not just against Afghanistan, but also during his record-breaking 40-ball century against Holland, and further back in white-ball cricket, one of Maxwell’s trademark skills is finding the gaps in all corners of the wicket, regardless of line and length. of the ball, and the pitchers.

“Once I get in, I feel like I can get psyched up early enough and have a good idea of ​​where I’m trying to achieve,” Maxwell explained. “I feel like my hands can get me out of trouble if the ball isn’t in those areas and I give myself some options for different lengths.”