BIG SHOW READY TO RETURN

GLENN Maxwell is “mentally ready” for his return to international cricket in England and says there’s no reason he won’t travel on to the Indian Premier League for a $2 million payday with the tournament now likely to start in late September.

The cancellation of the T20 World Cup, scheduled for October and November in Australia, has opened the door for the biggest T20 competition in the world where 17 Australians will earn more than $17 million.

Confirmation is expected from Indian officials later this week, with the tournament likely to be staged in the UAE as India continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

With quarantine restrictions being imposed around the world, Maxwell conceded there was no certainty, a sentiment echoed by interim CA boss Nick Hockley said who said it was “premature” to talk about the IPL going ahead.

Maxwell said he was extremely disappointed at missing out on a World Cup on home soil having seen the Australian women’s team enjoy an MCG victory in March.

But the white ball star, who has been back in training for two months with Victoria, said he would be “pretty excited” if the IPL, where he has a $2.19 million deal with the Kings XI Punjab, could fill that void.

“Any time you have a home World Cup you are certainly looking forward to it. We felt like we had been building towards it as a T20 side,” he said.

“You wait and see (with the IPL), waiting on the judgments of other people, what you can and can’t do with travel and quarantine times and all that, if everything gets ticked off there I have no real reason not to go.”