He doesn’t deserve it: Ricky Ponting on Glenn Maxwell’s bid to return to Test cricket for Australia | Cricket News

As explosive batter Glenn Maxwell eyes a return to the Australian Test side in 2025, former skipper Ricky Ponting thinks otherwise.
“No one deserves a chance unless you’ve got a truckload of first-class runs behind you. I’m a no; he doesn’t deserve it. But, if he gets a chance to go back and make some first-class runs, then he can force his way back in,” Ponting said on Channel 7.
Maxwell, who is one of the stars of Australia’s triumphant 2023 world Cup campaign, has played only 7 Tests for the Baggy Greens since his debut in 2013 with his last match coming against Bangladesh in 2017.
He has made just 44 Shield appearances in his career, representing Victoria and since October 2019, he has made just one appearance in the tournament. He, however, has played in the County Championship lately, having represented Warwickshire this season.
A week ago, Maxwell had put his hat in for selection in the Australian Test team when they go on tour to Sri Lanka in 2025, saying that he could be a real viable option in the subcontinent owing to his recent form there.
“I’m quite understanding the circumstances of the current side. They’re playing some really good cricket, they’re World Test champions. There’s not a lot of spots up for grabs as far as Tests at home, but I know that when it does come to a sub-continent tour I can be a real viable option to hopefully fill a role in that side,” he had said to SEN.
“It would have been nice to play one at home, it’s where I played all my first-class cricket and it felt like I toiled away for a few years there. It’s something that I wish I would have been able to do. But circumstances and timing I probably was more preferred in the white-ball area,” he would go on to add in the same interaction.