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Sports & Cricket
Glenn Maxwell retires from international cricket at 38
Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has announced his retirement from international cricket at 38, closing a 14-year career that brought three World Cup titles and some of the most inventive batting of the modern white-ball era.
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Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has announced his retirement from international cricket at 38, closing a 14-year career that brought three World Cup titles and some of the most inventive batting of the modern white-ball era.
Special coverage and in-depth reporting from the Sports & Cricket desk.
Key analysis, background details, and full reporting below.
Glenn Maxwell has called time on his international career, saying the moment felt both sad and inevitable after selectors left him out of Australia’s squad for the upcoming series against England.
By StoryTimesNow News Desk — 03 November 2026, 1:02 PM IST
Symbolic illustration of cricket stumps and a ball. The image is not a photograph of Glenn Maxwell.
Key Takeaways
What happened: Glenn Maxwell, 38, announced his retirement from international cricket on 3 November 2026, on The Final Word podcast, after being overlooked for Australia’s T20 squad to face England.
Who is affected: Australian cricket loses one of its most inventive white-ball players, while younger batters get a clearer run in the build-up to the 2028 Olympics cycle.
What next: Maxwell will keep playing franchise cricket, including for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League, and will no longer play first-class or List A cricket for Victoria.
Glenn Maxwell has retired from international cricket, ending a 14-year Australia career that delivered three World Cup titles and a reputation as the most inventive white-ball batter of his generation. The 38-year-old announced the decision on The Final Word podcast, in an episode released on Tuesday, 3 November 2026.
Maxwell said the timing felt, in his words, a little bit sad and a little bit inevitable. He had kept the door open for a return in the shortest format after retiring from one-day internationals in June 2025, but his name was missing when Australia named its squad on Monday, 2 November, for the series against England.
What Happened?
Maxwell confirmed he is retiring from international cricket in all formats, and from domestic 50-over and four-day cricket for Victoria, giving up red-ball cricket completely. He will remain available for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League and for other franchise tournaments.
The announcement followed a long period out of the national side. Maxwell last played for Australia against Oman at the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka in February 2026, taking two wickets in a match in which he did not get to bat. Australia were eliminated in the group stage of that tournament.
He had hoped for a farewell appearance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, his home ground, during the England series later in November. That hope ended with the squad announcement on 2 November, which favoured younger players. Maxwell said he fully understood the direction the selectors were taking, with change expected over the next 12 to 24 months as Australia looks toward the 2028 Olympics.
Maxwell also pointed to his body as a reason for the timing, saying he needed to look after himself so he could get through the remaining tournaments of his career.
Why Does This Matter?
Maxwell mattered because he changed what a middle-order batter could do. He was nicknamed the Big Show for a style built on reverse sweeps, switch hits and audacious improvisation, and for an ability to rescue matches that looked lost. Few players in the modern game could turn a hopeless position into a winning one as quickly.
His career also bridged two eras of Australian white-ball cricket, and his departure removes experience while settling a selection question that had lingered since February.
For the selectors, the retirement clears the way for a younger group to gain exposure to international pressure before the next major tournaments.
Important Details
Career totals: 286 international matches, 7,226 runs and 136 wickets across all formats.
Tests: Seven matches and 339 runs, with his last Test against Bangladesh in 2017.
One-day internationals: 149 matches and 3,990 runs; he retired from the format in June 2025.
T20 internationals: 130 matches and 2,897 runs at a strike rate of 154.42, making him Australia’s third-highest T20I run-scorer, behind David Warner and Aaron Finch.
Centuries: Five T20I centuries, a record he shares with former India captain Rohit Sharma.
World Cups: Winner of the ODI World Cups in 2015 and 2023 and the T20 World Cup in 2021.
Final match: Australia against Oman at the T20 World Cup in February 2026, in which he took two wickets and did not bat.
What continues: Franchise cricket, including the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League; he has stopped playing first-class and List A cricket for Victoria.
Background and Context
Maxwell made his Australia debut in 2012 and built his reputation first as a destructive finisher and later as a player who could bat anywhere in the order and bowl useful off-spin. His most famous innings came at the 2023 ODI World Cup against Afghanistan, an unbeaten double century while struggling with cramp that took Australia from near-certain defeat to victory.
The path to this announcement had been visible for months. Maxwell was not picked for Australia’s T20 series in Bangladesh in June 2026, and he was left off Cricket Australia’s central contract list for 2026-27, announced in April. He had already stepped away from ODIs, so the question was only whether he would play T20 internationals again.
What Happens Next?
Australia will face England later in November without Maxwell, with the series including a match in Melbourne where he had hoped for a send-off. The selectors’ youth-first approach will now be judged on results, and on whether the next generation can fill the middle-order role he occupied for more than a decade.
Maxwell, meanwhile, turns to franchise cricket. The Big Bash League will be his main stage, and his experience remains valuable to the Melbourne Stars even as his international days end.
FAQs
Has Glenn Maxwell retired from all cricket? No. He has retired from international cricket and from Victoria’s first-class and List A sides, but he will continue playing franchise cricket, including for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League.
What was his last match for Australia? The T20 World Cup group match against Oman in February 2026, in which he took two wickets and did not bat.
Sources and Verification
The Hindu, Australia’s Glenn Maxwell calls time on international career, 3 November 2026.
ESPN, Glenn Maxwell retires from international cricket, 3 November 2026.
Onmanorama, The Big Show signs off, 3 November 2026.
CODE Sports, Glenn Maxwell confirms international cricket retirement at 38, 3 November 2026.
The Tribune, Glenn Maxwell opens up on retirement from international cricket, 3 November 2026.
