Australia's two-time World Cup champion Maxwell quits ODIs

Two-time World Cup champion Glenn Maxwell is retiring from  One-Day Internationals (ODIs) cricket in a bid to play a role in Australia's push for a Twenty20 world title next year.

Maxwell has retired from ODI to focus on next year's T20 World Cup, the country's cricket board said on Monday.

Maxwell took the decision to prioritise his preparation for the T20 World Cup, to be held in India and Sri Lanka, and his commitment to franchise leagues, Cricket Australia (CA) said in a statement.

"I think back to right at the start I was picked ahead of my time and out of the blue. I was just proud just to be playing a couple of games for Australia. I thought I was just going to have that," the two-time World Cup winner said in the statement.

"Since then, I have been able to go through the up and downs of being dropped, being brought back, playing in a few World Cups and being a part of some great teams."

The 36-year-old has played 149 ODIs for Australia, scoring 3,990 runs at a strike rate of 126.7 - second only to Andre Russell's 130.22.

Maxwell's 201 not out from 128 balls while battling cramps in a 2023 World Cup match against Afghanistan is considered the greatest knock in this format.

Maxwell, who played the last of his seven tests in 2017, told the Final Word Podcast that the toll of 50-overs cricket, especially after a leg injury he suffered in 2022, affected his fielding ability during the Champions Trophy earlier this year.

"I felt like I was letting the team down a little bit with how (the) body was reacting to the conditions," he said.

"I had a good chat with (chairman of selectors) George Bailey and I asked him what his thoughts were going forward," he told the Final Word Podcast.

"We talked about the 2027 World Cup and I said to him 'I don’t think I am going to make that, it’s time to start planning for people in my position to have a crack at it and make the position their own'."

CA chief executive Todd Greenberg congratulated Maxwell for "one of the most exciting and influential one day international careers in the format's history."

"Glenn’s ballistic batting has lit up the cricket world and been one of the cornerstones of Australia’s continued success in the 50 over game, including his heroic role in the 2023 World Cup triumph," Greenberg said.

Reuters / AP