3 minute read
Matthew Wade has been in and around the Australia set-up for well over a decade and remains a key member of the 20-over squad heading for the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States.
Wade has not featured in either Tests or one-day internationals for around three years, but the 36-year-old left-hander and wicketkeeper is still a T20 regular and even captained the Baggy Greens in their most recent outing in New Zealand.
He was also a member of the Australian squad who triumphed at the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE.
In the Test arena Wade played 36 times for his country, featuring in just the one Ashes series, although he marked that occasion by scoring two centuries in England.
Career record
| Matches | Innings | Not Outs | Runs | Highest Score | Average | |
| Test | 36 | 63 | 9 | 1,613 | 117 | 29.87 |
| ODI | 97 | 83 | 12 | 1,867 | 100* | 26.29 |
| T20I | 85 | 64 | 20 | 1,175 | 80 | 26.70 |
Ashes record
| Matches | Innings | Not Outs | Runs | Highest Score | Average |
| 5 | 10 | 0 | 337 | 117 | 33.70 |
Wade enjoys starting in West Indies
Wade made his Test debut in April 2012 in the West Indies and it took until just his third match and fifth innings to record his maiden Test century, when he compiled 106 in Dominica in a match which Australia won by 75 runs, with Wade named player of the match.
A second century followed against Sri Lanka at the SCG in early 2013, but a poor tour of India soon after saw Wade jettisoned from the Test set-up for more than three years.
His batting form was always key to his Test selection, with his glovework certainly not exceptional, meaning that he was always needing to impress with the willow to retain his place.
Wade was recalled in late 2016 to face South Africa at the Adelaide Oval and would remain in place until he struggled on the sub-continent again the following year, while his Test career would eventually come to a close in a home series against India in early 2021.
In between those two dates he enjoyed the highlight of his Test career, when he was selected for the 2019 Ashes series in England as a specialist batter, with captain Tim Paine taking the gloves.
Wade made the most of that opportunity straight away as he scored 110 in the second innings of the first Test at Edgbaston and he would add a Test-best 117 in the second innings of the series finale at The Oval.
Strangely the five Tests he played in England that summer would be the only Ashes Tests he played during his career.
Wade misses out on World Cup double
Wade made his ODI bow a couple of months before his Test debut, against India at the MCG in February 2012, and went on to make nearly 100 appearances in the format, although he has not featured since July 2021.
He marked his debut with an innings of 67 and he would go on to pass 50 on a further 10 occasions, book-ending his career with an unbeaten half-century against West Indies at Bridgetown.
Wade also registered one ODI century, made against Pakistan at the Gabba in January 2017, with the left-hander finishing unbeaten on an even 100 in a match which Australia won by 92 runs.
During his time in the Baggy Greens' 50-over set-up they won a World Cup, but Wade missed out on the triumph in 2015, while he had disappeared from the scene when Australia were victorious again in 2023.
Wade crucial to T20 World Cup win
Wade first arrived on the international stage in the T20 game when he was selected to face South Africa at Newlands in October 2011.
He has made three 50s to date, all of which came against India at the SCG, with his top score the 80 he recorded in Sydney in December 2020.
Having missed out on 50-over World Cup glory, Wade made up for it in the shortest form of the international game as he was part of the Australia team who lifted the T20 World Cup in 2021.
He was not needed too much with the bat during that tournament, but he did make a crucial 41 not out from just 17 balls in the tense five-wicket semi-final win over Pakistan, which was secured with just six balls to spare.
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