Glenn Maxwell has taken a swipe at Australian teammate and Victorian captain Matthew Wade over the decision to make the explosive allrounder bat below him at state level.
Maxwell returns to the Australian one-day line-up on Sunday at the SCG for the start of their three-game series against New Zealand.
Twice this Sheffield Shield season, Maxwell has come in below the Victorian and Australian wicketkeeper in the Bushrangers' batting order, against NSW and Queensland last month.
After being dropped for the Victorian's first Shield game of the summer, it was a bitter pill to swallow for Maxwell, especially considering his aspirations to break back into the Test arena.
"That's probably a little bit painful at times," Maxwell said.
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"I think probably batting below the wicketkeeper is also a bit painful as well. I think the wicketkeeper should be batting at seven unless you're trying to squeeze an extra bowler into your line-up."
Asked why he thought Wade was coming in ahead of him, Maxwell replied: "I think when you're captain, you choose the batting order."
Maxwell was linked with a shift to NSW before the season, however was reportedly blocked.
He averaged 56 with the bat in Shield in 2015-16 but was overlooked for a Test recall against South Africa at the Adelaide Oval.
"I've been just trying to bat wherever I can and try to make as many runs as I can," Maxwell said.
"I got 100 from No.8 for Victoria so there is always opportunities to get runs wherever you are in the order. But the way the Vics have been going, you're generally coming in trying to set a total up or try to win the game with not many runs to get."
