GLENN Maxwell is heavily favoured to earn a belated call-up to Australia’s one-day international squad — but his relationship with skipper Steve Smith remains the biggest talking point ahead of a potential return.

Smith set tongues wagging last week when, after Maxwell’s name was missing from the initial 14-man squad for the five matches against England, he suggested the blazing all-rounder needed to “train smarter” and cut out “the funky stuff”.

It was a stunning public rebuke from the Australian captain, and left casual observers wondering just what the future held for a player who had been a mainstay of the nation’s white-ball sides over the past five years.

But now, following the news that power-hitting middle-order batsman Chris Lynn has been ruled out of the series with a calf injury, Maxwell could be on the comeback.

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Former Test quick Stuart Clark believes Maxwell is the natural replacement for Lynn — and says he and Smith might need to have a mediation session with coach Darren Lehmann before the team comes together.

But would there be concerns over the relationship between Smith and Maxwell?

“I think that horse has already bolted,” Clark told Fox Sports News on Tuesday.

“They’d deal with it. They’d have to deal with it. Steve Smith’s the captain of Australia, Glenn Maxwell wants to play for Australia.

“Whatever has to happen will have to happen. Darren Lehmann might be the arbitrator there.”

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Smith was criticised by former Australian players in the wake of his public criticism of Maxwell, with former Test spinner Gavin Robertson saying he’d broken a team code by airing his concerns to the press.

“(Australia coach) Darren Lehmann came through under (former captains Mark) Taylor and (Steve) Waugh, and the rule was you criticise in private and you would praise in public,” Robertson said.

“If we were talking to Steve Smith now I’d say ‘you’ve obviously changed that rule’. That’s not how it works anymore.”

But Clark defended the skipper, saying it was likely that Smith was simply addressing issues which had been brought up at the selection table.

“I’d imagine Steve Smith is only speaking on behalf of the selectors anyway,” Clark added.

“I don’t think he’d be going out on a limb here. There’d be some sort of talk and maybe that information’s already gone back to Glenn Maxwell and it just came out in the public forum as well.”