Maxwell named for 50-over return for Victoria despite ODI retirement

Despite retiring from ODIs earlier this year Glenn Maxwell will play 50-over cricket for his state side Victoria in the first two Dean Jones Trophy matches of the new summer to help prepare for the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand.

Maxwell, 36, has been named in Victoria's 14-player squad for their first two matches against Queensland and Tasmania at Allan Border Field on Wednesday and Friday respectively. Maxwell has played just one List A match for Victoria since March 2022, and that was against New South Wales in October last year.

Fellow Australian T20I squad member Matt Short has also been named for his first game of cricket in any form since the MLC in July, after he was ruled out of the five-match T20I tour of the Caribbean then both the T20I and ODI series against South Africa at home in August due to a side injury. Like Maxwell, he has not played a 50-over fixture since the Champions Trophy.

Captain Will Sutherland will only play in game one before departing to India to join the Australia A tour ahead of the second four-day game in Lucknow. Peter Handscomb will captain in game two.

Young batter Oliver Peake, who is yet to make his Victoria 50-over debut despite making his List A debut for Australia A in July against Sri Lanka A, is unavailable as he is already in Lucknow playing in the first four-day match against India A. Todd Murphy is also playing for Australia A in India.

Harry Dixon and Sam Elliott will play both games for Victoria before departing for India to play for Australia A in the 50-over matches in Kanpur that start on September 30.

Meanwhile, Marnus Labuschagne will captain Queensland against Victoria on Wednesday and Western Australia on Sunday, also at Allan Border Field. Xavier Bartlett is unavailable due to Australia A duty while Mark Steketee (minor hamstring) and Callum Vidler (stress fracture) are also absent. Test opener Usman Khawaja won't play either of Queensland's 50-over matches this week as he continues his preparation for the start of the Sheffield Shield summer ahead of the Ashes.

Former New South Wales allrounder Hayden Kerr is in line for a Queensland debut as is former Australian Under-19 World Cup winning captain Hugh Weibgen.

Tom Straker and Lachlan Hearne will play both matches against Victoria and WA before departing to India to join the Australia A 50-over squad.

Hearne has been called up to his first Australia A squad as an injury replacement for Aaron Hardie. Hearne has only played eight List A matches but the left-hander made an impressive 107 off 91 balls against his former state New South Wales in February.

Victoria squad: Will Sutherland, Peter Handscomb, Blake Macdonald, Callum Stow, Cam McClure, David Moody, Glenn Maxwell, Harry Dixon, Marcus Harris, Matt Short, Mitch Perry, Sam Elliott, Sam Harper, Tom Rogers

Queensland squad: Marnus Labuschagne (capt), Jack Clayton, Benji Floros, Lachlan Hearne, Hayden Kerr, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Gurinder Sandhu, Tom Straker, Mitchell Swepson, Hugh Weibgen, Jack Wildermuth