Form Tasmanian batsman Matthew Wade expressed his discontent after being felt let down by national selectors.
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The leading Sheffield Shield runscorer so far this summer was left out of the Australian Test squad for the two-game Sri Lankan series.
Australian coach Justin Langer had told batsmen in October that “making the most runs” would heavily count in their favour.
Wade is entertaining the prospect to concentrate just on batting to prove a point.
“I feel my form is as good as anyone in the country,” he told Fox Sports News.
“When Justin first took over he said that weight of runs would be the leverage to get selected and I feel like I’ve put the runs on the board over a long period of time.
“I’m hoping they’re not just looking at me as a specialist keeper; I hope they are looking at me as a batsman as well. If I have to prove that in Shield cricket, I will.
“I’ll come up the order and take off the gloves.”
Wade made an unbeaten 137 against Victoria in one of three games he played with Australian keeper Tim Paine.
Wade told The Examiner prior to Hobart Hurricanes’ match in Launceston that “Test selection isn’t in the forefront of my mind”.
Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns hinted how Wade could aid his Test chances.
“He’s playing as a wicketkeeper batsman for Tasmania and it just so happens we have a wicketkeeper batsman in our Test side,” Hohns said after naming the squad.
“If Matthew wants to be considered as a straight-out batsman, it’d be nice to see him batting higher up the order for Tasmania and that conversation has been had.”