Glenn Maxwell will pull on Victoria’s navy blue this week, turning out in 50-over cricket less than nine months after bidding farewell to international ODIs. The 36-year-old all-rounder has been included in a 14-strong squad for the state’s opening Dean Jones Trophy fixtures against Queensland on Wednesday and Tasmania on Friday, both at Allan Border Field.
Key facts up front
• Maxwell and fellow Australia T20 batter Matt Short both named for Victoria
• Captain Will Sutherland available only for Wednesday’s match before Australia A duty
• Marnus Labuschagne to lead Queensland; Usman Khawaja rests ahead of Shield season
• Several players shuttle between state and Australia A commitments in India
Maxwell’s rationale is simple: game time before Australia’s three-match T20I tour of New Zealand next month. Wednesday’s outing will be just his second List A appearance for Victoria since March 2022, the previous one coming last October against New South Wales.
Short, out since July with a side strain, also returns. The powerful opener missed the Caribbean T20Is and the South Africa home series in both formats. Like Maxwell, he has not played a domestic 50-over match since the last Champions Trophy.
Victoria’s captaincy will rotate. Will Sutherland leads on Wednesday, then flies to India to join the Australia A squad for the second four-day game in Lucknow. Peter Handscomb will step in on Friday. Young batter Oliver Peake and off-spinner Todd Murphy are already with Australia A and unavailable.
Fast bowler Sam Elliott and rookie batter Harry Dixon will feature in Brisbane before themselves heading to India for a trio of one-dayers in Kanpur from 30 September.
Queensland’s selection story centres on Labuschagne, who takes charge with regular skipper Khawaja opting to fine-tune for the Sheffield Shield opener and, longer-term, the Ashes. Seamer Xavier Bartlett is missing due to Australia A duty, while Mark Steketee (minor hamstring) and Callum Vidler (stress fracture) are sidelined.
Former New South Wales all-rounder Hayden Kerr, now settled in Brisbane, is poised for a Queensland debut. So too is Hugh Weibgen, Australia’s victorious Under-19 World Cup captain earlier this year. Young quick Tom Straker and left-hand batter Lachlan Hearne, who made 107 from 91 balls against New South Wales last February, will play both state games before linking with the Australia A one-day group; Hearne has been added as cover for the injured Aaron Hardie.
Analysis – why 50-over cricket still matters
For Maxwell and Short the Dean Jones Trophy is less about the format and more about rhythm. T20 skills—batting tempo, fielding intensity, bowling variations—transfer readily from one-day cricket. A pair of 50-over outings offers time in the middle without the extreme spotlight of the BBL or internationals.
Victoria will miss Sutherland’s seam and lower-order hitting once he departs, but Handscomb’s steady influence and a likely top three of Marcus Harris, Dixon and Short should give them ballast. Maxwell, meanwhile, can float—his preferred role—either as a surge finisher or, if an early wobble strikes, a counter-attacking anchor.
Queensland look lighter in pace stocks without Bartlett and Steketee, placing extra responsibility on Michael Neser. Yet Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw and Jimmy Peirson give their batting core Test-level experience, and rookie all-rounders Kerr and Weibgen add fresh energy.
Squads
Victoria: Will Sutherland (capt Wednesday), Peter Handscomb (capt Friday), Marcus Harris, Matt Short, Glenn Maxwell, Sam Harper (wk), Blake Macdonald, Callum Stow, Harry Dixon, Mitch Perry, Cam McClure, Sam Elliott, Tom Rogers, David Moody.
Queensland: Marnus Labuschagne (capt), Matthew Renshaw, Jack Clayton, Lachlan Hearne, Benji Floros, Hugh Weibgen, Hayden Kerr, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Michael Neser, Gurinder Sandhu, Jack Wildermuth, Mitchell Swepson, Tom Straker.
First ball in both matches is scheduled for 9.30 am AEST, weather permitting.
