Australian cricketer Glen Maxwell has finally shed light upon his battle with depression which saw him take a break from international cricketing action. Maxwell revealed that he hoped that he had broken his arm during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 so that he could get a break.
Notably, the 31-year-old, who had opted for a mental health break, remembered the nets before Australia’s World Cup encounter against South Africa. Interestingly, both he and Shaun Marsh were stuck on their arms while batting.
“I knew he (Marsh) was in trouble when he came in, and immediately I felt bad for him. I just thought I hope he’s OK, and if anything, I wish we could swap our news (suspecting Marsh’s arm was broken),” Maxwell said while speaking on Ordineroli Speaking podcast with Neroli Meadows.
“We went to the hospital together and we were both sitting there, I think both hoping for opposite news. When I got hit, I was angry and a part of me was hoping (my arm) was broken,” he added.
“I was like ‘this is it, I just need a break’… I was thinking about things I could do on the way back to snap it. I had anger at other people and it didn’t make sense, but I was angry at myself for not being able to produce at all this World Cup. I thought it would’ve been an easy escape because I felt like I was going to get dropped at some stage and I thought maybe this is the way,” he revealed.
Maxwell also went on to talk about the two-Test series against Sri Lanka in October. He stated that although he was in good nick with the bat, he was not able to enjoy it.
“I batted so well, I got 60-odd off less than 30 (balls) and barely missed the middle…but didn’t really enjoy any of it,” he said.
“You’re taking down an international attack and just not enjoying any bit of it,” he added.
“I was about to announce it to the group, they had no idea what was going on, I didn’t even tell (Aaron) Finchy,” Maxwell said.
“I didn’t want them to be distracted by what was going on with me.
“I went over to him (Finch) and said ‘I’m done, I’m going to have a bit of time off’, and he said he noticed something was up. Once I told him, he was like, ‘brave decision, well done’.
“Once everyone left, I broke down into tears, it was more…that was the first time I showed any emotion…since the World Cup,” he added.