'Can't rest on just being a batsman' - Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell has said his offspin will remain crucial if he is to nail down a long-term place in Australia's Test-match plans. Batting is Maxwell's primary skill, but he does not want to go down the path taken by Steven Smith, whose rapid rise since his comeback to the Test team in 2013, after two years out, followed a decision to focus more on his batting.

"I don't think I can rest on just being a batsman," Maxwell told AAP. "I know Steve Smith went that way when he lost his Test spot, not really bowling much at all. But I don't think I can go that direction. I have to keep working on both parts of my game and make sure they're good enough.

"I've decided not to play in England for the first time in four years. It might be a good chance to get a pre-season under my belt and spend a bit of time working on my game."

Maxwell was part of the Test squad that was scheduled to tour Bangladesh last year, but did not do so owing to security concerns. But he has not found a place in the 15-man squad for Australia's next subcontinental assignment, the Sri Lanka tour in July-August, with Moises Henriques, a seam-bowling allrounder, taking his place.

Steve O'Keefe, who bowls left-arm orthodox, is the second spinner in the squad, and Maxwell has admitted it will be difficult for him to take that slot, given he turns the ball the same way as Nathan Lyon, Australia's lead spinner.

"Competing with Nathan Lyon is always going to be tough," Maxwell said. "I've just got to improve my batting to the point where they can't resist having me as an allrounder and a back-up to him."

With the bat, Maxwell has shown good red-ball form in the limited first-class opportunities he has had in recent months, amidst all his limited-overs commitments. In the six Sheffield Shield matches he played in the 2015-16 season, Maxwell made 392 runs at an average of 56.00, with four half-centuries and a highest score of 98. Still, he feels he will need to keep scoring runs, starting with the ODI triangular in the West Indies, to keep himself in the frame for Test selection.

"If I can make some runs then and also hopefully in Sri Lanka for the one-day series, it still puts pressure on those guys in the squad," Maxwell said. "I was obviously a bit disappointed initially but having a look at the squad they've picked for Sri Lanka, I can understand. They've got all bases covered. I think it's a squad that is going to win the series. It's a really strong squad and I fully understand why I'm not in it."