Maxwell and Boland Return for Victoria's Historic Day-Night Clash

Dr. Annelies De Vos · 2026-09-23

Glenn Maxwell is back in Victoria's One-Day Cup squad to face New South Wales, and he's arriving straight from captaining the Belfast Wolves in the ETPL final in Dublin just five days ago. That's a whirlwind turnaround, but if anyone can handle it, it's Maxi. Test bowler Scott Boland is also in the mix. This match will be the first floodlit game under the new lights at Junction Oval on Friday. Pretty exciting stuff for Victorian cricket fans. ### Maxwell's Surprise Return Without a Contract Here's the thing: Maxwell retired from ODI cricket earlier this year and doesn't hold a contract with Victoria or Cricket Australia. He was removed from CA's central contract list, and he's only notionally available for T20I selection. But he hasn't formally retired from Test cricket, so there's still a flicker of hope for fans. Australia have just five T20Is scheduled in the 2026-27 contract year, and Maxwell was left out of the most recent series against Bangladesh in June. Still, he'd chatted with Victoria about playing in the One-Day Cup earlier in the winter, and that conversation has now turned into a spot in the squad against NSW in Melbourne. Not bad for a guy without a contract, right? This isn't Maxwell's first rodeo in the competition since his ODI retirement. He played two One-Day Cup matches for Victoria last September, including his maiden List A century for the state. Though at that time, he was still contracted to CA and those games were prep for a T20I tour of New Zealand. Victoria have four more One-Day Cup fixtures before the BBL kicks off: September 25, October 12, October 24, and November 16. Coach Chris Rogers hasn't confirmed if Maxwell will play beyond Friday's match, so we'll have to wait and see. ### Boland Set for One Outing Before Joining Test Squad Boland will get one game with Victoria before flying to South Africa on Sunday to join Australia's Test squad. He missed Victoria's win over Queensland in Brisbane last week, so this is a quick tune-up before the big stage. Rogers said having contracted players like Boland around benefits the squad both through performance and by setting an example for the younger guys. He also mentioned that the timing of the fixture, right before the AFL Grand Final, should draw a strong crowd given the star power on display. ### Victoria Manage a Squad Stretched Across Commitments Victoria are currently missing several players who are on national duty. Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Campbell Kellaway, Todd Murphy, and Fergus O'Neill are all with the Australia A squad in India, while Ollie Peake is with Australia's ODI squad in South Africa. Most of them, except Murphy, are expected back for the October 12 match. Murphy will stay with Australia A for three one-day fixtures ending October 11. Rogers admitted that fitting all contracted players back into the side will be a challenge as the season goes on. But he also highlighted the performance of Victoria's younger players in the win over Queensland, where they chased down 336 after being 14 for 4. Debutant hundreds from Liam Blackford and captain Will Sutherland led the charge. Rogers said the depth shown by uncapped players reflects well on Victoria's playing program as they head into the rest of the season. For more cricket news and updates, visit JeetWin Blog!