10 Facts about Matthew Wade - The Attacking Wicketkeeper Batsman

Matthew Wade, the Australian wicketkeeper, has represented his country in all three formats of the game. He plays domestic first- class and List A cricket for Victoria, and Twenty20 cricket for the Melbourne Renegades. Apart from being a good wicketkeeper, Wade is also an attacking left-handed batsman who loves to go after the bowling. He began his professional career with Tasmania in 2006 and is now a regular member of the Australian ODI and T20I teams. Here are some interesting facts about Matthew Wade:

1. Birth:

Matthew Wade was born on 26^th December 1987 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

2. Australian rules football:

He represented Tasmania in underage football, vice-captaining the Tassie Mariners team in the TAC Cup (an under 18 Australian rules football representative competition). He belongs to a family of football players. His father and cousin have played at the professional level while his grandfather served as the president of the Hobart Football Club.

3. Cancer:

At the age of 16, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and received two rounds of chemotherapy before he was cleared of the disease. His self-belief and his mental toughness enabled him to get out of this difficult situation and helped him get back on the field.

4. Age group cricket:

Wade represented Tasmania in underage cricket as well, he represented Australia at the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. At the age of 19, he moved from Hobart to Melbourne, realizing that he would be stuck behind his childhood mate Tim Paine in the Tasmanian wicketkeeping queue.

5. First-class debut:

The Victoria Bushrangers immediately gave Wade a chance, and he grabbed it, making 83 and taking 6 catches on his first-class debut in 2007. Wade’s glovework improved leaps and bounds during his time with Victoria and in 2008-09 he compiled a Victorian record 57 Sheffield Shield dismissals.

6. Favourite sport, team and player:

His favourite sport is Soccer while the team is Manchester United Wade is a fan of Dutchman Wesley Sneijder.

7. Funniest childhood memory:

He once described his funniest childhood memory as having his own New Kids On the Block concert in his living room, where he played all the members and knew the choreography as well.

8. Celebrity crush and views about being famous:

Wade picks Cameron Diaz, the famous Hollywood actress, as his celebrity crush. He aspires to be famous like Jurgen Klinsmann, former German football great and current head coach of the United States men’s national soccer team, or like the actor Johnny Depp.

9. Limited overs career:

In October 2011, he was selected for a T20I against South Africa. In 2012 against India in a T20I, he opened the batting scoring 72 runs from 43 balls to earn the Man of the Match award. Following this series, he was selected for the ODIs. He won the Man of the Match award on debut, scoring 67 runs off 69 balls against India at the MCG. He has played 53 ODIs and scored 1075 runs with a career-best of 75 against Afghanistan. His 23 T20I appearances have produced 204 runs with a best of 72 against India.

10. Test career:

Wade got the Test cap when Brad Haddin was forced to miss the Test series in the West Indies due to personal reasons. He grabbed his chance, scoring a dominating career best 106 in the 3rd Test on a pitch where most of the other batsmen struggled to score quickly. He was then selected ahead of Haddin for Australia’s following Test series against South Africa in November 2012 however from the 2013 Ashes series he lost his Test position to Haddin.

With Peter Nevill now being a regular member of the Test team after Haddin’s retirement, Wade features only in ODIs and T20Is for Australia. He has played 12 Tests and scored 623 runs at an average of 34.61.