GLENN Maxwell had already endured a pretty tough day — but a sledge from legendary fast bowler Jeff Thomson just made it a whole lot worse.

First things first, Maxwell was sensationally axed from Australia’s one-day squad for the upcoming series with England and he copped a serve from skipper Steve Smith to boot.

Smith said Maxwell could consider himself “unlucky” but urged him to take the axing as a wake-up call and change his training habits to get his way back into the national team.

“Just looking at the way he trains ... I think he could train a little bit smarter,” Smith said.

“We’ve all seen the way he can come out and play and do all his funky stuff and be pretty cool with that.

“But when he puts his head down he’s actually a really good batsman as we’ve seen in Shield cricket. He’s got some big runs there.

“If he keeps his head switched on and trains really well and focuses on basic things, probably more than the expansive things, then I think that’ll help him have his consistency and if he’s having those consistent performances he’s certainly a person you want in your team.”

Jeff Thomson looks fearsome in full flight. Source: Supplied

That would’ve been tough enough to take for Maxwell, but Thomson savaged the dynamic all-rounder when speaking on Bill and Boz on Wednesday night.

“The one that’s probably a shock, certainly a shock to his ego, is the Big Show,” Thommo said. “Maxwell missed out, and he got a bit of a serve from his captain and indirectly through the coach as well.

“What I got out of it was they’ve been telling him for a while what to do and he hasn’t been doing it. He’s still been doing his usual stuff and it hasn’t worked, so they’ve flicked him.

“Some guys don’t get it sometimes. Some guys get it, some guys don’t. You try to give them the right advice.

Glenn Maxwell plays a shot as India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni looks on. Source: AFP

“And Maxy has always had that aura around him that it’s the Big Show and all that. I’ve hardly ever seen him do a Big Show. It’s always been a Little Show as far as I’m concerned.

“No seriously, and it always annoyed me. I used to think: ‘Who’s this bloke that they’re pumping up?’ And people have said to me, ‘Thommo, he can play’. And I’ve said, ‘Mate, he can’t play. When he does something then you can tell me that he can play’.”

Ouch!