This performance was notable in a difficult scoring Shield season, and Maddinson’s name began to be mentioned as a possible return to Test cricket. His previous three Tests came against South Africa and Pakistan in 2016-17, when the selectors revamped the batting order, but he only managed 27 runs in four innings.
“Probably (thinking about it) most days to be fair,” Maddinson told ESPNcricinfo. “Of course in the winter and off-season you have other things going on and family at home, but when you start getting into cricket, we were doing outdoor training at centre-wicket and (Josh) Hazlewood and (Mitchel) Starc started rolling, it’s hard not to think about the progression of your career.
“I love playing the game and I want to help New South Wales win, but from a personal perspective I still feel I have something to offer in international cricket and I would love to have that opportunity again. There’s a lot of motivation for people and playing for Australia is still there for me.”
He also believes there is no comparison between himself and the first Test cricketer he played. In six seasons with Victoria, he averaged 50.63 in Shield cricket.
“I’m 10 times better, maybe even more,” he said. “I’m probably a much better player than I was three or four years ago. I felt last year that it was quite difficult for me to score on some of the wickets we took. Opening the batting is always a good place to be, but it’s not my strength. I think being able to score one run last year gave me a lot of confidence and allowed me to adapt and play a different style. You have to adapt to progress in your career and I felt I made some really good progress last year.”
Maddinson’s prolific finish in the Shield was the result of a difficult BBL campaign that saw him dropped despite captaining Melbourne Renegades after scoring 48 runs in four innings. He entered the tournament having played little cricket after recovering from an ACL injury. His overall T20 record is a disappointing 20.30 average from 134 innings, but he will be hoping to reinvigorate his game for the Thunder.
“I’ve been pretty disappointed with what I’ve done since leaving Sydney Sixers (in 2018), to be fair,” he said. “It was really challenging for me going into the BBL (last season) without playing a lot of cricket because I’d had such a long break. The important thing for me is to have a decent block of long-form cricket to lead into the BBL and build my game from there.
“There are definitely phases in people’s careers where there is a bit of a dip in form and then there is a phase where you bounce back. Last year was a bit disappointing for me because the only thing that stopped me feeling like I could do well was the amount of game time. There were a few technical changes and bad habits that came into play in T20 practice and that damaged the overall structure of my batting. Going forward, it’s about finding a game plan that works, no matter where I fall in the order.”
“I think I first played with him in a minor league game when I was 16,” Maddinson said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been together again. They’ve got Cam Bancroft, Ollie Davis and Sam Billings in that top lineup, so it’s a pretty good lineup, and hopefully I can play a role somewhere.”
