Maxwell told The Final Word podcast this week of his decision to retire from all international cricket as well as 50-over cricket for Victoria after being overlooked for Australia's next T20I squad to take on England.
The 38-year-old last represented Australia at the 2026 T20 World Cup in south Asia, where the Aussies failed to qualify for the Super Eights stage after losing to both Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
Maxwell made just 62 runs from three innings at the tournament and had been dismissed for fewer than 25 runs in nine of his 12 T20I innings across 2025 and 2026.
He had already committed to a One Day International retirement in June 2025 after being taken out of the picture for the 2027 ODI World Cup in southern Africa.
Having been due to turn 40 during the next T20 World Cup, Maxwell was told by Australian selectors and team management that he was not going to be a consistent part of their future plans, with his likelihood of selection to change on a series-to-series basis.
“We probably had numerous discussions before and after the T20 World Cup,” Maxwell said.
“And it was pretty open-ended. There wasn’t any pressure from (the Australia management), and we decided to sort of leave the door open.
“There was a couple of series that were coming up; they were going to look to the future, and we saw that in Bangladesh with guys getting their opportunity and performing really well.”
Whilst already being at peace with the knowledge that his long-term future was potentitally not going to involve international cricket, Maxwell did reveal that he had been hopeful of a farewell game at the MCG on November 21, when Australia play the first leg of a five-game series against England.
"There was, I suppose, a small hope or a discussion that I might have been able to get a send-off game at the MCG, but I can completely understand the direction they're going with this squad.
"There's going to be a lot of change over the next 12 to 24 months with the Olympics coming up (in 2028) and they've got to make sure they get their eyeballs on a few young guys and expose them to the international pressure that you can't always get from a BBL fixture.
"To play against a battle-hardened England side will be an extremely good experience for those guys."
Maxwell admitted that the temptation of retiring as an Olympian crossed his mind over the several months that have elapsed since the last T20 World Cup, but an injury-plagued second half of his career has made physical conditioning increasingly difficult.
"It was something I thought about. But the last four years have really tested my resilience of how hard I can bounce back from a setback and keep trying to get up and play an international series.
"The back-to-back games started to wear me down and those games come thick and fast. It's harder at this age with my injury history to get up and get going again."
Maxwell will require a knee injection to be able to fulfil his duty as captain of the Melbourne Stars, who are yet to win a title in its 15-year history.
Beyond that, Maxwell said it's unlikely he'll be exploring any new T20 leagues beyond the ones he is already contracted to, including the Big Bash League, USA's Major League Cricket and the European T20 Premier League.
"I've got a couple of years left in a couple of different contracts, which I'll see out, but I don't think I'll add to it. What I've got now is more than enough to keep me busy."
In addition to a Test century in India, Maxwell retires with a world-best five T20I centuries, a record he shares with India's Rohit Sharma, and arguably the greatest innings of all-time in any cricket World Cup when, almost unable to walk due to crippling cramp, he biffed and slashed his way to an unlikely match-winning double century against Afghanistan in 2023, moving to 201* with a flat-footed six over square leg.
Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.
