Glenn Maxwell says he is still happy to pull on a Victorian shirt in the one-day competition even though he has stepped away from international ODIs and, tellingly, decided not to take a new state deal. The same applies to Matthew Short, who has also gone freelance yet remains available when his ever-growing franchise schedule allows.
Both men slipped off Cricket Australia’s central list last month. For Maxwell, now 38 in October, it leaves him formally as a T20 specialist in a winter that features only five Australia matches. Short, 30, was squeezed out after missing the most recent T20 World Cup squad and hovering on the edge of the one-day side.
In the past, players drifting off CA retainers would re-enter their state’s contract list almost by default. These days there is a clear pattern: white-ball regulars chasing overseas gigs prefer the flexibility of a freelance life, jumping in for their state when windows open rather than being tied to a nine-month calendar.
Maxwell has already tested that arrangement. Six months after announcing his international ODI retirement following the 2025 Champions Trophy, he turned out twice for Victoria in last September’s One-Day Cup, even helping himself to a maiden domestic List A hundred against Queensland. Those games served as tune-ups before an Australian T20I tour of New Zealand and, by his own admission, scratched the itch to play longer than four-over bursts.
Privately, Victoria officials have sounded him out about doing the same this coming season. If he is around and keen, he plays; if a T20 league calls, he goes – simple as that. Maxwell has made no secret of wanting to stick around for another Olympic tilt in Los Angeles (he will be 39) and even the 2028 T20 World Cup at 40, so trimming the schedule where possible makes sense.
Short’s situation is comparable but not identical. He featured in four Sheffield Shield fixtures and five domestic one-dayers last summer, missing the Shield final because Chennai Super Kings required him in the IPL. Having relocated permanently to Queensland with his young family, he spent the season commuting – something Victoria coaches say impressed them. Like Maxwell, he will remain eligible for both red- and white-ball cricket next term. The key difference is timing: with the ILT20 shifting to November, Short won’t need Cricket Victoria’s permission slip (an NOC) to play in the UAE while the Shield is on.
The rest of Victoria’s 2026-27 contract list is largely straightforward. Promising pair Fergus O’Neill and Campbell Kellaway re-signed during the campaign, while fast bowler Xavier Crone and left-arm wrist-spinner Callum Stow drop off the senior list but keep a training link. Wicketkeeper Jai Lemire heads interstate chasing more opportunity. Two Australia Under-19 representatives, Tom Paddington and Aryan Sharma, come onto the rookie list.
Victorian men’s squad 2026-27
• Austin Anlezark
• Liam Blackford
• Scott Boland (CA)
• Dylan Brasher
• Ashley Chandrasinghe
• Harry Dixon
• Sam Elliott
• Peter Handscomb
• Sam Harper
• Marcus Harris
• Campbell Kellaway
• Blake Macdonald
• Cam McClure
• David Moody
• Todd Murphy (CA)
• Fergus O’Neill
• Oliver Peake
• Mitch Perry
• Tyler Pearson
• Tom Rogers
• Will Sutherland
• Doug Warren
• Harry Ho
A tidy list, then, but the door remains ajar for two of Victoria’s most dynamic white-ball players to wander in and out as required – a modern solution for an increasingly itinerant cricket workforce.
