Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell could be priming himself for Sheffield Shield action after assessing his fitness during a weekend club cricket fixture on his return from a grievous leg injury suffered last year.
Maxwell fractured his left fibula at a friend's birthday party days after Australia made a premature exit from the ICC T20 World Cup at home in November.
The 34-year-old white-ball specialist is set to play his first competitive match in more than three months over the weekend, which could clear his path to playing for Victoria in the Marsh Sheffield Shield clash against South Australia next week.
When Maxwell got injured, he was bracing up for his maiden Shield match in three years to further his claim to be in the squad for the ongoing four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India.
Maxwell will play for club side Fitzroy-Doncaster on Saturday, following which he will have a fitness test. If cleared, he will turn out in Monday's Shield fixture against South Australia at Junction Oval.
"To bring a player of Glenn's calibre into the squad is exciting, he has a fantastic record in Shield cricket and it's a shame he hasn't been able to play more of it," Cricket Victoria's head of male cricket, David Hussey was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
Speculation is that Maxwell, who has signed up to play for Birmingham Bears in England's T20 Blast and London Spirit in The Hundred, could still tour India for the three ODIs in March scheduled after the Test series.
Victoria coach Chris Rogers said Maxwell's return would be great for his side.
"For us (Victoria), he wants to play, that's the most important thing. He hasn't played a lot of it (first-class cricket) and I know he loves it when he does play.
"But, equally, he brings some more leadership in this young group and for our younger guys to be playing with him, that's excellent for them," added Rogers.
