Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell announces retirement from ODI cricket with immediate effect

‌Glenn Maxwell has decided to end his Australian ODI career with immediate effect as he made the announcement public in an interview with the Final Word Podcast on Monday. With that, the Australian all-rounder ends his 13-year stint in ODIs, during which he became part of two World Cup-winning Australian squads.

Maxwell revealed that his body was not able to take the physical toll of ODI cricket and joined compatriot Steve Smith who also decided to retire from ODIs after the Champions Trophy in March 2025. However, he also mentioned that he will continue to play the T20 format and will be available for selection for the T20 World Cup scheduled to happen in India and Sri Lanka next year.

"I felt like I was letting the team down a little bit with how the body was reacting to the conditions," Maxwell said during the interview. "I had a good chat with [Australia chair of selectors] George Bailey and I asked him what his thoughts were going forward.

"We talked about the 2027 World Cup and I said to him 'I don't think I am going to make that, it's time to start planning for people in my position to have a crack at it and make the position their own'. Hopefully, they get enough of a lead-in to hang onto that role,” he explained. 

The 36-year-old Maxwell represented the Aussies in 149 ODIs and accumulated 3990 runs at an average of 33.81 and a strike rate of 126.70. With the ball too, he was a handy customer picking up 77 wickets in 119 innings. His last ODI innings was against India in the semifinal of the marquee tournament in UAE where he scored seven runs off five balls and ended wicketless with the ball.

Often seen as a big-match player, Maxwell shone brightly in both the World Cup campaigns where Australia finished with the crown. In the 2015 campaign at home, Maxwell racked up 324 runs from six innings, the third-highest from his team, averaging 64.80 with a hundred and two fifties while also striking at 182.02. He also showcased his all-round skills with six wickets during that edition.

In the 2023 campaign, he went one step further with arguably the best innings in ODI history when he scored an unbeaten double-century, the only Australian to do so in ODIs, against Afghanistan to take his side past the 292-run target after being reduced to 91/7. That win saw the Aussies turn around an indifferent campaign and go on to win their sixth World Cup.

"I'm extremely fortunate that I was able to have my moment," Maxwell said of his greatest innings. "Everything that you've worked hard for, the peak of your powers, being able to put it in front of the world to see and it's almost like saying, this is the best of me, you can either take it or leave it, but this is all I've got."

In the same tournament, he also scored the fastest ODI century in a World Cup with a 40-ball hundred against the Netherlands en route to notching up 400 runs from nine matches at an average of 66.66 and a strike rate of 150.37.