Glenn Maxwell opens up about Shane Warne's 'love' for London Spirit ahead of The Hundred

Australia star Glenn Maxwell is set to play in The Hundred for the first time after pulling out of last year's edition.

The all-rounder was looking forward to working under Shane Warne, who was set to coach London Spirit again this year before his tragic passing. Maxwell was close with Warne and revealed the legendary spinner 'loved' his time with the Spirit.

"When the draft happened, I wasn't sure who I was going to go to, but as soon as I was picked up to London I was basically on the phone to Warnie pretty much nonstop, trying to work out the team and all that sort of stuff, different combinations," Maxwell told Sporting News Australia.

"We were obviously tight off the field, both of us avid St Kilda supporters, and had a fair bit in common. It's been a pretty hard year for a lot of people. I got to see Jackson [Warne's son] the other day.

"It's nice to see him over here and hopefully he can get to a game and see the boys play. I know he would have loved to have been here.

"He was a bit unlucky because he was isolating for pretty much most of the tournament so he was pretty much stitched up there. But he said it was an amazing tournament to be a part of and all he was talking about after last year was, 'oh next year we're going to get it right, it's fine, you'll be coming over'.

Shane Warne was set to continue as London Spirit head coach but tragically passed away in March (Popperfoto via Getty Images)

"The excitement in his voice, he spoke really passionately about it and, yeah, he loves this team." And Maxwell says the Spirit will look to "put our best foot forward for him" as they aim to win the tournament after a disappointing first season.

"Your motivation is to win it anyway and I don't think you need any extra motivation," he added. "But to have the first year with him not being here, I suppose him being the inaugural coach of this place and the amount he talked about and loved this place, he loved being able to almost brag about coaching the team playing at Lord's, which was always quite funny.

"Being in the heart of London suited his lifestyle, he absolutely loved it here. We're certainly going to be doing our best to put our best foot forward for him."