Glenn James Maxwell is an Australian professional cricketer. He has played for the Australia national cricket team in all formats of the game since 2012, although he is primarily a One Day International and Twenty20 International specialistOne of the fastest scorers in world cricket, Glenn Maxwell has lit up the limited-overs formats. His ability to make unconventional shots - reverse sweeps and pulls appear routine making it hard to set fields to cover all of his scoring areas.

Maxwell was born in Kew, Melbourne, and played junior cricket for South Belgrave Cricket Club. He initially played as a fast bowler, before moving to bowl off spin. Maxwell joined the Victorian squad in 2009/10 following an injury to Andrew McDonald in November. He made his senior debut for the one-day side in February 2010 and was selected to play for the Australian Institute of Sports in the 2010 Emerging Players Tournament. He scored 69 against India in the final.

Maxwell attracted national attention in February 2011 after scoring a match winning 51 from 19 balls in a Ryobi Cup game against Tasmania, the fastest half-century in Australian domestic one-day history, and made his first-class debut for Victoria against New South Wales later in the month, taking two wickets and scoring 38 runs on debut. The following month he scored his debut first-class century, making 103 runs against South Australia. In the 2011 Emerging Players Tournament, Maxwell scored 59 from 23 balls against India and 110 from 52 balls against South Africa.

In 2012, Maxwell went to England to play club cricket for South Wilts Cricket Club and Second XI cricket for Hampshire before appearing in the T20 Blast for the county. Maxwell attempted to transfer to New South Wales ahead of the 2016/17 summer but was refused permission and was dropped from the Victorian side for the first match of the Sheffield Shield season. Maxwell was picked in the next Shield game and scored 81. Maxwell was selected for Australia's series against Pakistan in the UAE in 2012.

He made his debut against Afghanistan in the one-off One Day International (ODI) which took place ahead of the matches against Pakistan, before going on to play in five of Australia's six fixtures against the Pakistanis. Scores of 38, 28 and 56 not out in the three ODIs on the tour, saw him selected for two of the three Twenty20 International matches. After scoring 51 not out from 35 balls opening the batting against West Indies in the first ODI of in February, Maxwell took four wickets in the second match of the series. He was subsequently selected for Australia's Test tour of India later in the month as an all-rounder. He made his Test debut against India in the second Test at Hyderabad as the team's second spinner, supporting Xavier Doherty with established lead spin bowler Nathan Lyon dropped.

Later in 2013, Maxwell played in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy in England, but was not selected for the 2013 Ashes which followed the competition. He went to South Africa with Australia A, making a first-class century against South Africa A and a limited overs century against India A in a tri-series. By now an established member of Australia's one-day teams, Maxwell returned to India in October as part of an Australian limited overs tour of India and played against England later in the year. He was named in Australia's 15-man squad for 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, scoring 74 runs from 33 balls against Pakistan in Australia's first match of the competition.

Maxwell was selected in Australia's 15-man squad for the ODI World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in early 2015. He scored 95 runs and took four wickets against England in final of the warm-up triangular series in early February and began the tournament well, making scores of 66 from 40 balls in the first match against England, and 88 from 39 balls against Afghanistan. Later in the tournament, he scored his maiden international century, scoring 102 against Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He brought up his century in 51 balls, at the time recording the fastest century by an Australian man in an ODI and the second-fastest in World Cup history.

In the quarter-final against Pakistan, Maxwell took two wickets and scored 44 runs, before scoring 23 against India in the semi-final. He did not bat in the final against New Zealand but took a wicket as Australia won their fifth World Cup title. Maxwell ended the tournament as Australia's third highest run scorer, scoring 324 runs at a batting average of 64.80 runs per innings. Maxwell continued to be a fixture in Australia's one-day sides following the World Cup. He was names as Cricket Australia's men's T20I Player of 2015 at the Allan Border Medal ceremony and played regularly throughout 2015 and the first half of 2016. Maxwell returned to the ODI side at the beginning of 2017 for the series against Pakistan, making scores of 60 in first ODI and 78 in the fourth match. He was named as Cricket Australia's men's ODI Player of 2016.

February 2017, Maxwell was selected for Australia's squad for the Test tour of India. He played in the opening tour game against India A but did not make the side for the first two Tests, with Mitchell Marsh preferred as the side's all-rounder. An injury to Marsh saw Maxwell return to the side in the third Test of the series, scoring his maiden Test century. His score of 104 runs meant that be became the second Australian man to score a century in all three international formats.

After playing in Australia's side in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales in June, Maxwell was selected again in the Test squad for Australia's tour of Bangladesh in August and September. He played in both Tests during the series, preferred as a spin bowling option in south-Asian conditions. After struggling on Australia's ODI tour of India later in September, he was dropped from the side during the tour and lost his place in the Test team for the 2017/18 Ashes series. Australia's captain Steve Smith suggested at a press conference that Maxwell could "train smarter", commenting that although he was an explosive one-day player than he should aim for more consistency in his game.

Maxwell returned to Australia's squad for the 2017/18 Trans-Tasman Tri-Series involving New Zealand and England in early 2018. In the first T20I of the series, he scored 40 from 24 balls against New Zealand, before making a century against England in the second match, making 103 runs from 58 balls. He also took three wickets in the match. Despite being omitted from the Test squad to play Pakistan in October 2018, Maxwell had re-established himself in the one-day side. He scored his third T20I century during the tour of India in early 2019, making 113 not out and becoming the first Australian man to score three T20I centuries. He was again named as Cricket Australia's men's T20I player of the year for 2019. He played in Australia's squad in the 2019 Cricket World Cup before announcing in October that he would be taking a short break from cricket due to mental health issues.

He was named in the Australian fifteen man squad for the 2023 Cricket World Cup. During the competition, Maxwell scored the fastest century in Cricket World Cup history, bringing up his century in 40 balls against Netherlands in October. He scored 106 runs from 44 balls. He played a match-winning knock against Afghanistan scoring 201 runs off 128 balls. Maxwell set a plethora of records during his knock of 201* against Afghanistan. He was hailed by fans and critics who insisted that he played out of his skin to help Australia register an unlikely victory after being put on the back foot by Afghanistan early on in the Australian batting innings. His ODI innings was also hailed by many as the "greatest ever innings in the history of ODI cricket.” His monumental knock of 201* which consisted of 21 fours and 10 sixes is also the highest individual score by an Australian in an ODI match surpassing the previous best by Shane Watson who made 185* against Bangladesh in 2011.

After helping Australia win their record-breaking sixth World Cup, he continued his T20I success into 2024 by scoring his fourth and fifth centuries in his 100th and 102nd T20I appearance. In the third match of the Australia vs India series in November 2023, he scored an unbeaten 104 runs off 48 deliveries to lead Australia to a victory total of 223. He hit eight fours and eight sixes, including 18 runs off the last over to secure the win. He became the second player in men's T20I cricket, after Rohit Sharma, to score four centuries and set the record for the most T20I centuries by an Australian. Additionally, he holds the record for the most centuries scored while chasing in T20I history, with three out of four centuries in pressure situations.

Regularly labelled “The Big Show” for his rare ability to change a match with bat, ball or in the field, Maxwell was a key figure in Australia’s limited-overs success throughout the 2010s and early 2020s. His fast hands and ultra-aggressive nature made him a nightmare for opposition bowlers, and a genuine limited-overs trailblazer. Maxwell is also widely regarded as one of Australia’s greatest ever fielders in the modern era, and also proved himself valuable with ball in hand by taking 77 wickets. Maxwell’s ODI career ends with one of the more extraordinary stat lines, accumulating 3,990 runs at an average of 33.81 and a strike rate of 126.70

In June 2025, Maxwell announced his retirement from One Day Internationals, after 149 matches over 13 years, including 2 World Cup victories. Maxwell has played in T20 cricket franchises leagues in Australia, India and England. In the domestic Big Bash League he played for Melbourne Renegades in 2012/13 and has since played for Melbourne Stars. During the 2021/22 season he scored 154 not out against Hobart Hurricanes, breaking the record for the highest individual score in the league and leading his team to the highest team total in league history. In India he played for Delhi Daredevils in 2012 before being bought in the 2013 IPL auction by Mumbai Indians, becoming the most expensive purchase at the auction, commanding a price of US$1 million.