Matthew Wade is still our first-choice wicketkeeper in T20Is: George Bailey

It was only a day back when Cricket Australia announced contracts for the 2022-23 season for both men and women and it was for all to see that wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade didn’t find his name on the list. However, George Bailey, Australia’s Chairman of Selectors has stated that Wade still remains their first-choice wicketkeeper in T20Is.

It is to be noted that 27-year-old Josh Inglis, who made his international debut against Sri Lanka in February 2022, was given a look-in in the CA contracts over Wade. Inglis also donned the keeping gloves in Australia’s one-off T20I against Pakistan recently where Wade wasn’t even included in the tour. Keeping all these scenarios in mind, Bailey’s statements hold significance as he is expecting the 34-year-old to come up well before T20 WC 2022.

“They’re all guys that we fully expect will play for Australia in the near future. In all likelihood, they’ll all be picked probably in our next touring party. Wadey is still our first-choice wicketkeeper in our T20 team and [there’s] a big build-up coming up to that World Cup. And a little bit the same with Kane (Richardson) with that T20 World Cup coming up as well,” said George Bailey as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Josh has obviously done really well in the opportunities that he’s had: George Bailey

Talking about Inglis’ inclusion in CA contracts, Bailey added that he has performed really well with the opportunities he got in his hands. On the other hand, Inglis stands to be their keeper in waiting behind Alex Carey in ODIs and Tests and behind Wade in T20Is, reckoned Bailey. Bailey concluded that all the players have a good time to build up for the T20 World Cup coming up at home for them.

“Josh has obviously done really well in the opportunities that he’s had. He’s clearly our keeper-in-waiting, I guess, behind Alex in the Test and one-day formats. And he’s the keeper-in-waiting behind Wadey in the T20 format. He’s going to be a huge part of every tour that we go on. We’re investing as much in the future with him as we are looking at what’s happened in the past 12 months,” he added.