Matthew Wade’s first Test ton in six years proves he is at home once more at the very top of the game
Matthew Wade’s highest ever Test score helped take Australia to the brink of victory at Edgbaston, and validated the confidence he now has that his best is good enough to compete on any stage.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Match report: Aussies put Poms to the sword
- Debate settled - Smith’s best since Bradman
- Bite-sized Ashes: Everything you need to know
It was way better than batting in the backyard in Lauderdale but Matthew Wade couldn’t have enjoyed his first Ashes hundred more by having his childhood sparring partner up the other end at Edgbaston.
Playing his first Test since 2017, having emerged as a batting force after dropping the wicket keeping gloves, Wade put his stamp on the series with a powerful innings of 110 which served as a message to everyone that all those runs at the next level down were as good as they seemed.
Stream the 2019 India Tour of West Indies on KAYO SPORTS. Every T20I, ODI and Test LIVE on your TV or favourite device. Get your 14-day free trial >
Wade, now 31, scored his third Test hundred, his first since 2013, and his highest Test score in an innings full of all the confidence he now enjoys as a mature cricketer fully aware his best is good enough to compete anywhere.
That captain Tim Paine, who Wade battled with when they were kids, then teens, two cricket loving wicket keeping dynamos from just south of Hobart, was out there with him when a reverse sweep nudged him in to three figures, brought an extra smile to his face.
“We’ve played a lot of Test matches in the backyard, a lot of Ashes Test matches as well. When we came off I said that was pretty cool,” Wade said.
“It was nice to be out there in the middle playing a real one today.
“It probably hasn’t sunk in just yet, first Test match of an Ashes series and just to play was a dream come true, let alone to contribute what we’re hoping will be a win.
“But I’m proud of the way I soldiered on in the last few years, not knowing if I’d get another opportunity.
When he passed 50, Wade made a cradle-rocking motion in celebration, a tribute to his wife, Julia, who he said “threw me on the plane” to play in the Australia A series, just days after the birth of their second child, Goldie.
It was a good idea too. Wade scored three hundreds on tour which helped him barge his way in to the Test team.
He didn’t think he had to prove himself after a 1000-run Sheffield Shield season, playing with a confidence he took in to a Test that for so long he thought he’d never play.
It was the sort of confidence which meant Wade wasn’t rattled when he was out for one in the first innings, the sort of confidence which helped him race to his 100 in just 131 balls.
“It’s a good reward for a lot of work I have put in over a two-year period now. I never thought I would be back at this level firstly, and to get the opportunity to play the first Test of an Ashes series, I am grateful to be here,” he said.
“I certainly felt my game was at as a stage where I could perform at this level. It’s as confident as I have been coming in to a Test match for sure.
“I am probably at an age where I know my game better than I did back then, and playing as a specialist batter makes a difference as well. It takes a lot of pressure off, you can chill a little bit in the field, you are not concentrating for a long stretch of time like you do as a wicketkeeper.”
“I am even more grateful to my wife for throwing me on the plane and telling me to come over … to hopefully get an opportunity to be in the position I am in.
“That’s what that (rocking the cradle) was all about. I didn’t know if I would get another chance.”
Chances could be plentiful, with Wade’s knock almost certainly locking him in for the rest of the series, as part of a middle-order growing stronger by the game.