01 November 2023 , 12:09
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Glenn Maxwell has been ruled out of Australia's upcoming Cricket World Cup match against rivals England on Saturday after suffering a concussion when he fell off a golf cart.
The incident occurred at a team golf day in Gujarat on Monday, with Maxwell falling off the back of the cart. In a statement, Cricket Australia described the injury as an "unfortunate accident" and that the all-rounder had suffered no further damage aside from the concussion.
"In transporting him back from the clubhouse to the team bus, Glenn Maxwell came off the back of a cart and has suffered a small concussion, so he will go into concussion protocols for the next period of time and will unfortunately miss the England game," head coach Andrew McDonald said.
"The guys were ferried off on carts. Glenn and a few other players jumped on the back of carts and unfortunately he lost his grip on the way back to the team bus and sustained that injury. He's been honest with the information he's provided. He's doing fine, he'll start some light exercises today and we feel as though it will be a reasonably straightforward return to play protocol.
"I suppose the fortunate part was there was no other injury sustained which could have been a lot worse than it currently is. I think it rattled everyone to be fair once it came to the conclusion there was a concussion and he was going to miss a game. There was nothing untoward in the behaviour throughout the day, it was a clear-cut accident and unfortunately it's compromised what we are doing as a team."
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Maxwell will be a huge loss for Australia, having struck the fastest century in World Cup history off just 40 balls against the Netherlands two games ago. He has also played a crucial role with the ball as Australia's second spinner, taking seven wickets, and either Marcus Stoinis or Cameron Green are expected to replace him.
Stoinis has missed their last two games with a calf issue, but the all-rounder should be available for the England game. "There's no doubt it leaves us a fraction exposed at the back end in terms of how Glenn's been performing," McDonald added. "But Marcus Stoinis does become available, all things going well at training today."
McDonald also insisted Australia will not be "cancelling golf" as a result of the incident. "We think it's important for the balance of our players," he said. "It was a fantastic couple of days, well-organised, the boys had some great connection and we feel as though that's important.
Earlier in the tournament, Maxwell struck the fastest hundred in World Cup history (ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)"We're on the road for extended periods of time. So I want to draw the dots on potentially cancelling golf. It's an unfortunate accident. There's been a couple of them in the last 12 to 18 months that have been well documented... but we feel as though that that balance is important to our group."
Last year, Maxwell broke his leg after falling over at a friend's birthday party and spent almost five months on the sidelines. "One of my mates, who was also one of my schoolteachers, we were laughing about something and I pretended to chase him off somewhere," Maxwell explained on Cricket Australia's Unplayable Podcast.
"I reckon we both took about three or four steps out there, and both slipped at the same time. I just got my foot stuck a little bit, and he fell, unfortunately at a really bad angle and landed straight on my leg.
"It just snapped. I heard and felt every part of it. It was pretty painful. I was screaming a bit and he was like, 'please tell me you're joking, please tell me you're joking'. I shattered my fibula. So that one I think was the first snap I heard. It was snapped in half, but it also shattered through the bone."