Glenn Maxwell 'shocked and hurt' by links to spot-fixing allegations

Sydney, July 25: Glenn Maxwell revealed he was "shocked and hurt" to be linked with allegations of spot-fixing, which the Australia batsman claims are wholly untrue.

An Al Jazeera documentary alleged that Australian players were involved in corrupt activity during the drawn Test with India in Ranchi in March 2017.

Maxwell, who made a first-innings 104 in that match - his only Test century to date - was not named in the film but match footage suggested he was one of those being accused of the supposed fixing.

And Maxwell was pained to see his finest knock in the longest format undermined by accusations of wrongdoing, which he insists have no basis in truth.

"I was shocked. I was a bit hurt by it as well," he told SEN Radio. "To have these allegations about your involvement in a game where you've only got happy memories, great memories.

"I still remember the feeling after hugging Steve Smith after getting my maiden Test hundred. To have that tarnished by these allegations was pretty devastating. Obviously there's absolutely no truth to it whatsoever.

"It was 100 per cent unfair, to tarnish one of the best moments of my career was pretty brutal. The only thing they could have done worse was tarnish that [2015] World Cup win. They're two of the best moments of my career.

"I'd just finally got back in the Test side - I'd worked my absolute backside off...to say I'd do anything to ruin that would be absolutely ridiculous.

Absolute dross accusations on Glenn Maxwell imo. I could be wrong but I’d be a terrible judge of character if I am.

— Moises Henriques (@Mozzie21) July 24, 2018

"They didn't mention any specific names but did basically say the time of the game, which was my involvement.

"You could see it was the gear that I was using, and there wasn't anyone else using that gear in that game. That was certainly very hard to take."

And Maxwell insists he has always reported anything resembling suspicious activity during his travels on the Twenty20 circuit.

"I've been very honest with [anti-corruption officers] the whole way through with the IPL," he said.

"If I've ever seen anything untoward I always sat down with them, had a long coffee and just talked about everything to make sure nothing ever, ever comes back to me.

"If there's anything slightly amiss, I always give them a call and make sure they have every bit of evidence they can possibly have. There's some things you see in the game of cricket where you're always just a little bit unsure."