Maxwell closer to return, trains with Victoria

Maxwell, who stepped away from cricket to deal with his unspecified problems during Australia’s Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka in October, returned to club cricket recently.

He has played three Victorian Premier Cricket matches with club side Fitzroy Doncaster since and has taken part in some aspects of Victoria’s Shield program.

On Thursday, the 31-year-old, who bowls off-spin, participated in Victoria’s training session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

“I think he is doing everything he needs to do ... when he is ready to come back (he will),” teammate Marcus Harris was quoted as saying by ‘cricket.com.au’. “I’m not sure if it is this week or Big Bash, but he’s not far away I think,” he added. Victoria will take on Western Australia at the MCG starting on Saturday, but Maxwell has not been named in the squad.

Harris said it will be left to Maxwell to decide the right time to return to the game on a full-time basis.