Glenn Maxwell celebrates a wicket in an ODI against England last summer. Pic. Phil Hillyard Source: News Limited

There weren’t many contentious selections in the rather predictable 15-man squad unveiled by Australia on Sunday, but the inclusion of a misfiring Maxwell was cause for consternation for some Aussie fans.

MAXWELL SMART MOVE BY WORLD CUP SELECTORS

A match-turning 66 for Melbourne Stars in Saturday night’s local derby helped get Maxwell back into some kind of batting form, but his recent woes in the Big Bash see the audacious all-rounder head into the World Cup with a question mark over his temperament with the bat.

However, much of the conversation around Maxwell’s selection has overlooked a big part of his game and one of the main reasons why he was selected.

His bowling.

Glenn Maxwell is back. The Melbourne Stars batsman played a crucial role in his side's victory with a confident 50.

The right-armer might be firmly entrenched in the ‘part-timer’ category but his accurate off-spin is set to be a crucial weapon in a pace-heavy Australian bowling attack.

Maxwell took the second-most wickets in one-day internationals for Australia in 2014, picking up 16 scalps at a highly respectable average of 30.

Crucially his economy rate was a touch under five runs per over, bettering the only Aussie player that took more wickets than him in ODIs last year, James Faulkner.

Xavier Doherty is the only specialist spinner in the World Cup squad and he seems unlikely to feature heavily in the tournament, so the Aussies are going to rely on Maxwell — perhaps along with Steve Smith — to provide the slow bowling option.

That was certainly the case during Australia’s most recent one-day series against South Africa.

Maxwell took a wicket in each of the four matches he played in that series, providing valuable variety that often slowed the Proteas’ momentum after they had become accustomed to facing a pace barrage.

Glenn Maxwell's poor Big Bash form shouldn't knock him out of world cup contention according to good friend Aaaron Finch.

When it comes to his work with the willow in hand, the statistics paint an interesting picture of how Maxwell fared in ODIs for Australia last year.

He finished 2014 as Australia’s fifth-highest run-scorer, having hit 380 runs at an average of 25.33 and strike rate of 107.95.

The man who will captain Australia during its opening World Cup match, George Bailey, hit 406 runs at an average of 25.37 and strike rate of 74.63 last year.

Bailey and Maxwell often come to the crease in similar match situations but have very different methods of trying to bat their side to victory.

Bailey takes his time getting his eye in, preferring to see Australia through to the final overs of its innings.

Maxwell usually comes out with all guns blazing and while it can result in a cavalier-looking dismissal, the stats show that overall, his and Bailey’s contrasting styles can produce rather similar results.

When Maxwell’s crafty bowling and world class fielding are thrown into the mix, it’s not hard to see just how important he’ll be to Australia’s hopes in February and March.