AUSSIE all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has opened up on a rough patch in his career which saw him targeted by a documentary suggesting he was involved in a match-fixing bombshell.

News network Al Jazeera sensationally claimed it had proof of players being involved in illegal conduct during Australia’s Test match against India in Ranchi last year.

No players were named in the short documentary, which pointed to two Aussie batsmen who were allegedly paid to stem the runs at the crease. But the timing of the footage and the batting gear used by the blurred players made them easily discernible to fans with keen eyes.

Aussie Glenn Maxwell was one of the players at the crease during the documentary and he wasn’t happy one bit.

“I was shocked. I was a bit hurt by it as well,” Maxwell told SEN’s Whateley on Tuesday.

“To have these allegations about your involvement in a game where you’ve only got happy memories about it, great memories … I still remember the feeling after hugging Steve Smith after getting my maiden Test hundred.”

The 29-year-old said his special moment scoring a rare Aussie century on subcontinent soil was “tarnished” by the documentary.



“To have that tarnished by these allegations was pretty devastating and obviously there’s absolutely no truth to it whatsoever,” he said.

“It was 100 per cent unfair, to tarnish one of best moments of my career was pretty brutal.

“The only thing they could have done worse was tarnish that World Cup win (in 2015). They’re two of the best moments of my career.

“To say I’d done anything untoward in that game, when 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.”

Maxwell said Cricket Australia warned him of the documentary before it went to air.

“If they mentioned any names, they would be taken down pretty heavily,” he said. “They (the filmmakers) 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.”

Claims Australian players were involved in illegal activity were swiftly dismissed by Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland, who insisted there was no evidence of the touring side being involved in corruption.

“Cricket Australia and the ICC take a zero-tolerance approach against anyone trying to compromise the integrity of the game,” Sutherland said after the bombshell claims. “Neither the ICC or Cricket Australia is aware of any credible evidence linking Australian players to corruption in the game.”

Maxwell’s extensive time in India throughout a glittering career in the IPL has seen him in contact with anit-corruption officials before. The middle-order slugger said he had a good relationship with officials and always reported suspicious behaviour.

“I’ve been very honest with them the whole way through with the IPL,” Maxwell 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 possible have.

“There’s some things you see in the game of cricket where you’re always just a little bit unsure.

“All the things you do hear in the game, and when it comes out later on you go, ‘Oh, I swear I could have noticed that while I was watching it’.

“It was probably easier when I was captain and I was able to see the way game was going, and the instructions that I was giving players, and the way the game was moving I could actually work it out a little better.