The art of hitting one ball six ways: How Glenn Maxwell's unconventional genius kept opposition bowlers guessing

From a schoolyard batting ban to audacious switch-hits, Glenn Maxwell developed an extraordinary range of shots that kept the world's best bowlers guessing.

Bas de Leede bowled a full delivery at the stumps in the 47th over of the Australia vs Netherlands match at the 2023 ODI World Cup. Glenn Maxwell reversed his stance and sent it sailing for a maximum. Two balls later, the bowler tried something different. He went shorter and slower this time. Maxwell again reversed his stance and hit another six. He completed his century in just 40 balls, the fastest in men's ODI World Cup history.

Glenn Maxwell attempting a reverse sweep. (AP)

Those two deliveries illustrated what made Glenn Maxwell special. His dynamic range of shots allowed him to attack different parts of a field on two similar deliveries. He made life difficult for opposition captains, as conventional field settings were rarely enough to restrict him. As the 38-year-old retires from international cricket, his versatility remains one of his biggest contributions to modern batting.

In an interview with Cricbuzz in 2016, Maxwell explained the advantage. “Having that boundary ability is a massive advantage over a lot of other players and teams, because they just don't know where to bowl to you if you can hit the same ball to five or six different areas,” he said.

Maxwell displayed his abilities quite early in his career. During his innings against Zimbabwe in 2014, he scored 93 runs off 46 balls, hitting nine fours and five sixes. One of those maximums came from a reverse slog-sweep against Sean Williams.

“When the off side field is up like it was a bit (against Zimbabwe) I was trying to go mainly off side and luckily enough I got a few balls in the area as well, so it's about playing to the field when I'm out there and trying to expose any weaknesses I can see in their field,” Maxwell explained in an interaction with Cricket Australia.

The schoolyard restriction

The roots of Maxwell’s versatility go back to his primary school days in Melbourne. During lunchtime cricket, he reportedly went an entire week without getting dismissed. This frustrated his friends, and they eventually allowed him to play only if he batted left-handed instead of his natural right-handed stance.

“I just didn't want to get out and so I got banned from playing primary school cricket with my mates,” Maxwell recalled during an interview in 2014. “So I played basketball for a while and stayed away from it.”

He eventually returned to cricket after accepting the left-handed condition. This helped him develop a skill that would make him unique during his international career. His father played a big role by encouraging such experimentation.

“It’s something you have to practice I suppose, and dad always kept pushing me to keep trying to do new things and he was a good coach for me when I was younger,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell also revealed that he closely observed players like Mike Hussey, Michael Bevan, Adam Gilchrist and Jonty Rhodes, studying how they manipulated the field. Thus his repertoire consisted of unconventional switch-hits, reverse sweeps, reverse laps and ramps along with the conventional powerful strokes.

One example reveals how calculated his unconventional thinking could be. During the 2016 T20 World Cup, Maxwell switched to a left-handed stance and hit Ravindra Jadeja for a maximum. He later revealed that his original intention was to force India to move a fielder towards point, opening the cover region for a conventional drive.

The thinking behind his outrageous shots

Maxwell did something that has been prohibited in the coaching manual. He studied field placements, anticipated the next delivery and then premeditated his stroke.

“Most of my reverse-sweeps are pre-meditated. I think you have to, because of the fields the people set and if you get a rhythm against someone you understand where the ball is coming from, and where he's going to bowl to you,” he told Cricbuzz.

But there was a drawback too. Having so many options complicated his decision-making. Maxwell himself acknowledged that choosing the right stroke was a skill he had to develop gradually. His dismissal for 93 against Zimbabwe presented a humorous example. After getting caught attempting a conventional straight drive, he wondered whether he should have gone for a reverse sweep instead.

His extraordinary array of shots also drew scrutiny over whether switch-hitting gave batters an undue advantage. In December 2020, Maxwell hit Kuldeep Yadav for a huge six using his switch-hit. This prompted former Australian captain Ian Chappell to question the fairness of the stroke. “It is very skillful, some of it's amazingly skillful - but it's not fair,” he said.

However, Maxwell disagreed and argued that bowling tactics should evolve alongside batting. “I suppose it's up to the bowlers to try and combat that, and the skills of bowlers are being tested every day,” he said.

Maxwell’s unconventional shots remained effective even late into his career. Against South Africa in Cairns in August 2025, he made 62 runs off 36 balls. Australia needed four runs off the last two balls, and he resorted to a reverse scoop against Lungi Ngidi to hit the winning boundary.

Maxwell’s ODI career finished with 3,990 runs at a strike rate of 126.70. In T20Is, he scored 2,897 runs at a strike rate of 154.42. However, these numbers alone cannot adequately explain the challenges he presented to even the best bowlers in the business.

In his retirement interview with The Final Word, Maxwell expressed hope that his career would inspire the future generation “to want to play differently and to be open and vulnerable and to not shy away and be themselves.”

For someone who once had to change his batting stance just to participate in schoolyard cricket, it was a fitting sentiment.