New Tasmanian captain Matthew Wade says he is not disgruntled after being overlooked by national selectors ahead of Australia’s Test series against India, starting next week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 30-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman is averaging 82.40 from eight innings this Sheffield Shield season with a highest score of 137 against Victoria last round.
Wade (412 runs) is the third highest run scorer behind teammate Alex Doolan (444) and soon-to-be new Test opener Marcus Harris (437), however, neither Wade or Doolan seemed to be considered publicly for a position in Australia’s fledgling top six.
“If you don’t get picked that generally means they want you to score more runs,” Wade, a player of 22 Tests, said on Monday.
“I got a text from [Australian coach] Justin Langer after the last game which said ‘well done’, so that’s about the only contact I’ve had from an Australian point of view since I got dropped 18 months ago.
“I’d love to play but it’s probably a long way down the track. I think I’ve just got a solid game plan now.
“I have worked hard with [Tasmanian batting coach] Jeff Vaughan, changed the way that I’ve played from the MCG to Bellerive but I’m pretty clear that if I miss out [on a big score] a few times it doesn’t worry me – I know what I’m doing is going to work in the long run.”
Wade replaced George Bailey, 36, as Tigers captain last Friday after Bailey made the decision to step aside in a bid to focus solely on his declining performances.
The Tasmanian-born ex-Victorian skipper’s first assignment in charge will be a round 5 Shield clash against a winless South Australian outfit at Bellerive Oval on Tuesday.
Wade said he is comfortable taking the reins despite having Bailey and Test captain Tim Paine in the line-up.
“I’m proud obviously to take over the captaincy for Tasmania,” he said.
“We work closely on the ground anyway – myself and George and obviously Tim’s there, Doolan, Bird – we all worked closely throughout the whole of last year.
“George’s captaincy style is to take a lot of advice, take it in and then work out the best way to go about it.
“Nothing will really change that way, George may stand at mid off a bit more and just chill out and worry about what he’s doing a bit more, but we’ll work pretty much exactly the same on the ground.”
Wade said the pitch is more than likely to suit pace bowlers with a decision on whether to play a four-man pace attack including uncapped paceman Alex Pyecroft or all-rounder Simon Milenko.
National limited-overs batsman Ben McDermott has been recalled to replace injured Beau Webster, who will be re-assessed by doctors in a fortnight. He is expected to miss six to eight weeks with a knee injury.