Two-time World Cup winner with Australia Glenn Maxwell calls time on ODI career

Two-time ODI World Cup winner with Australia, batting giant Glenn Maxwell, has announced his retirement from the 50-over format with immediate effect. ‘The Big Show’ – as fans called him - featured in 149 ODIs for Australia since his debut 13 years ago in 2012, having scored almost 4000 runs in this format.

Maxwell, who continues to manage the leg injury he sustained in a horrific 2022 accident, informed chief selector George Bailey during February’s Champions Trophy that he is unlikely to stretch it till the next ODI World Cup in 2027.

"I said to him right then and there, 'I don't think I'm going to make that'," Maxwell revealed on the Final Word podcast. "I think it's time to start planning for people in my position to have a crack at it and try and make that spot their own for the 2027 World Cup. Hopefully, they get enough of a lead-in where they can have success in that role."

Meanwhile, Maxwell is said to have made up his mind about ODI retirement before suffering a finger injury that ruled him out of IPL 2025. Following his announcement, he now joins the list of several 2023 ODI WC-winning squad members, including David Warner, Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis, to hang boots from One-Dayers.

What forced Maxwell to announce ODI retirement?

Maxwell spilt the beans on what forced him into announcing his ODI retirement. The 36-year-old said it was during early games in the Champions Trophy 2025 when the thought of quitting ODIs first came to his head. Maxwell said following Australia’s tournament-opener in Lahore, played on a rock-hard outfield, he felt soreness in his body, and despite getting better playing conditions against Afghanistan (on a relatively soft and wet outfield) in the third match, he failed to hit the ground running.

That, however, was the starting point when he realised his body was perhaps not fit enough to take the ODI cricket workload.

"My decision to retire from one-day international cricket was probably more on the back of the first couple of games in the Champions Trophy," he said, as quoted by Cricket.com.au. "I felt like I gave myself a really good opportunity to be fit and ready for those games. The first game in Lahore, we played on a rock-hard outfield. Post that game, I was pretty sore.

"We were lucky enough to have a washout against South Africa, where I had a bit more time to have a bit of rest and get myself ready for the next game. The following game against Afghanistan, we fielded for 50 overs on a really, really wet outfield. It was slippery, it was soft, and I just didn't pull up that well.

“I started to (realise) that if I don't have the perfect conditions in 50-over cricket, my body just struggles to get through that. It feels like it's a tiring affair just to get through – and almost surviving – the 50 overs, let alone being at my best throughout that 50 overs, and then going out there and trying to perform with the bat as well.

"I felt like I was letting the team down a little bit with how my body was reacting to the conditions,” he revealed.

Meanwhile, Maxwell will continue to play T20Is for Australia and hasn’t called time on his first-class career yet.