Matthew Wade misses captaincy debut following back injury

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Australian cricketers Mathew Wade (L) and Moises Henriques (R) look on during a practice session. / AFP / ISHARA S.KODIKARA (Photo credit should read ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images)

An unfortunate back injury to stand-in skipper Matthew Wade ensured that the wicketkeeper-batsman simply could not make his much-anticipated ODI debut as captain of the Australia side in the first ODI of the 2017 edition of the Chappell-Hadlee series in Auckland. However, despite the setback, Aaron Finch, an experienced skipper in his own right has been named as the captain in his place.

The 30-year old Wade had been named as the skipper for the Chappell-Hadlee series with a fresh-looking Aussie unit making the short trip down to New Zealand. The injury to Wade witnesses Sam Heazlett making his ODI debut with the wicketkeeping duties outsourced to Peter Handscomb. It was also interesting because Finch opted to bowl first, something that was certainly expected given Mitchell Starc’s performance in the previous ODI at this venue.

John Orchard, the Chief Medical Officer for Cricket Australia went on to release a statement on the extent of the injury to Matthew Wade. “Matthew injured his back at the end of Sunday’s training session and, with the short turnaround between then and the start of this match, he was not fit enough for today as, when we checked him out this morning, he was unable to perform at the appropriate level,” he said on Monday (January 30).

“We will make a decision on his availability for Thursday’s match in Napier in due course but at this stage, our expectation is that this is a short-term injury.”

“I’m hugely disappointed but after getting checked out this morning I knew I would not be able to play,” he said. “I wish Aaron all the best as captain in my absence and I’m delighted for Sam Heazlett, making his international debut.”

Also read – India v England 2nd T20I – England Player Ratings

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