Glenn Maxwell says Shane Warne 'loved' coaching London Spirit

Tribute to the 'King of Spin', Shane Warne

Glenn Maxwell has said that Shane Warne "loved" coaching London Spirit. Warne passed away at 52 while he was on holiday in Thailand in March this year.

Maxwell said he wanted to use his first Hundred to prepare for the T20 World Cup to honour Warne. He recalled how Warne said it would be amazing to participate in the tournament.

"He said it was an amazing tournament to be a part of and all he was talking about after last year was 'oh next year we're going to get it right, it's fine, you'll be coming over'. The excitement in his voice, he spoke really passionately about it and, yeah, he loves this team,” Maxwell said.

"He loved being able to almost brag about coaching the team playing at Lord's, which was always quite funny. Being in the heart of London suited his lifestyle, he absolutely loved it here."

Warne had a rough time as a Spirit head coach last summer before his passing. He was absent from several matches due to contracting COVID-19. Regardless, he remained enthusiastic despite finishing bottom in the regular season.

Warne has since been replaced by head coach Daniel Vettori. Maxwell said he hoped that Warne’s family would be able to attend to represent him at the Hundred.

"I got to see Jackson [Warne's oldest child] the other day. It's nice to see him over here and hopefully, he can get to a game and see the boys play. I know he [Shane] would have loved to have been here,” he said.

The Sportsman

2022-03-30 09:38

🇦🇺🤍 Shane Warne was quite simply one of the best the game had ever seen... Beautiful video. 📹 @cricketcomau https://t.co/tq5A9WL0Tn

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Preparing for 2022 T20 World Cup

The 33-year-old Maxwell is currently preparing for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

"I think me personally, I'm trying to get my own preparation done for the World Cup. That's my whole game at the moment, is gearing towards that T20 World Cup,” he said.

"I'll use these conditions and the quality of teams and players in all those teams to hopefully get myself prepared. I know I'm only here for a short period of time but I'm going to be training with a goal in mind to be ready for that T20 World Cup

"I still think this is an exciting new tournament that I wanted to be involved in any way. Even if there wasn't a World Cup I'm still going to approach the game as I do every other game. It's more the off-field stuff, I'm starting to prepare longer down the road."

Maxwell has been having quite a busy year. He scored 468 runs at an average of 42.54 for Melbourne Stars. In a match with Royal Challengers Bangalore, he scored 301 runs in 13 innings and one half-century. He then joined a tour of Sri Lanka, where he came close to a first Test cap since September 2017.

"I've got a long nine months on the road so it's about getting my body right. Being able to be injury free for all that time is going to be key,” he said.

“Especially the wrong side of 30, you have to do all the right things around your training and it's certainly one of the things I've been working really hard at, to keep that consistency of training going and consistency of gym work to make sure I do stay injury free. And I know that'll help in the back end of my career as well.”