Maxwell predicts big scores at World Cup

Australia allrounder Glenn Maxwell has issued a warning to bowlers ahead of this year’s World Cup, with the white-ball star predicting high scores to be the norm during the 50-over showpiece.

Maxwell is currently getting a first-hand look at many of the venues that will be used at the World Cup during a county stint with Lancashire and has already witnessed plenty of large totals during England’s domestic 50-over competition.

He was part of the Lancashire side that hit their highest-ever one-day score earlier this month when they reached 9-406, and still lost to Nottinghamshire’s 7-417.

That match happened at Trent Bridge, where England racked up a record 481 against Australia last June. The Aussies will play the West Indies, featuring power-hitters Chris Gayle and Andre Russell, and Bangladesh at the high-scoring venue during their World Cup campaign.

“I’ve chased nearly 900 runs in 100 overs in my last two games at that venue,” Maxwell joked on radio station SEN.

“I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a bunch of 400 (runs innings scored in) games in the World Cup.

“The wicket squares go right across the ground, the outfields are fast and hard and the wickets are playing so well.”

There were three innings that scored in excess of 400 at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, but the recent trend of 50-over cricket around the world has seen bowlers struggle to keep scoring down as good batting pitches and shorter boundaries become the norm.

Despite having cashed in himself on good batting tracks for Australia against Pakistan in the UAE last month, Maxwell is somewhat concerned by the upward trend of scoring in recent times.

“I don’t like them getting too high,” Maxwell said.

“It does make it entertaining, but it does get to the point of you don’t know where to bowl.

“It comes down to the wickets being produced. If they’ve got nothing in them – no movement, no swing, no spin – it makes it very hard for teams to defend.

“If there’s nothing in the wicket it makes it extremely hard for the bowling team to compete.”

Maxwell cemented his spot in Australia’s squad for the World Cup when he produced knocks of 71, 98 and 70 against Pakistan during their most recent one-day series and will join up with his national teammates in Brisbane later this week before heading back to England for the seven-week tournament.

The 30-year-old expects conditions to be different for batting during the World Cup and knows he will have to alter his game somewhat to find different avenues to score.

“I’m preparing to have a technique that’s going to be successful in these conditions,” he said.

“It’s about finding a different way to score runs than I was in India and Dubai where I was playing a lot off the back foot and being really low to the ground.

“Here you’ve got to be a lot sharper on your feet and hit through the line a bit more.”