Matthew Wade

Born on Boxing Day 1987, the southpaw was seen as a long-standing option after the retirement of Adam Gilchrist and was termed as the heir apparent. Wade represented Tasmania in both cricket and football during his evolving years. When he was 16, Wade was diagnosed with testicular cancer and underwent two rounds of chemotherapy before being cleared of the disease. Returning to the game, Wade went on to represent Australia in the 2006 U-19 World Cup that was held in Sri Lanka.

Wade got his breakthrough with Tasmania in the 2006-07 season during the Ford Ranger ODI series but played only one match for his state side. He realized that he was behind the pecking order with Tim Paine being the preferred first choice. Rather than playing as a specialist batsman, Wade crossed over to Victoria during the 2007-08 season and in two seasons became the preferred choice ahead of the incumbent Adam Crosthwaite.

A couple of productive seasons with both the bat and the gloves for Victoria in both the Sheffield Shield as well as the One day format meant that Wade established himself as another option for the selectors behind Brad Haddin. His explosive style of batting was something that always worked in his favour.

His consistency won him a spot in the Australian T20 team during the tour of South Africa in late 2011. The ODI call-up was to come soon as he made his debut against India during the Commonwealth Bank Trophy series in February, 2012. He responded with a superb 67 on debut at the MCG. Wade was selected as Haddin's back-up during the Test tour of West Indies in April 2012 and made his debut after Haddin pulled out of the series owing to personal issues.

He showed glimpses of his batting potential and ended the tour with his 1st Test ton, a free-flowing 106 in the final Test at Roseau. Wade continued to impress with his batting abilities with a powerful 102 against Sri Lanka at the SCG, but his fumbles with the gloves did not impress the critics. With Haddin returning to the game after a brief break, the pressure grew on Wade to prove that he belonged to this level.

Wade is a regular in the Big Bash League though and has been with Melbourne Stars since 2011. However, he found no bidders in the 2014 IPL auctions after Delhi Daredevils decided not to retain any of the players for the 7th edition of the IPL. Then the retirement of Haddin saw Peter Nevill being selected as the first choice keeper and Wade missed out. In ODIs though he continued to be the preferred choice till 2017 before poor form saw being ousted from the side. Alex Carey got the nod for the 2019 WC as well.

But some heroic performances in the first-class set up saw him getting his place back in the Test side for the 2019 Ashes as a specialist batsman with skipper Tim Paine doing the keeping duties. Wade didn't enjoy a long-run with the Test side and Alex Carey was preferred over him when Tim Paine stood down from the side.

He continued to be a key part of Australia's T20I setup and even captained the side on numerous occasions. He was part of both of Australia's squads for the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cup.

Written by Pradeep Krishnamurthy and Kumar Abhisekh Das