‘Crazy’: Matthew Wade suspended for equipment abuse, audible obscenity

A former Australian Test star has been suspended for an act that every youngster is taught not to do during the Marsh One-Day Cup.

Former Australian Test wicketkeeper Matthew Wade has been suspended for two matches after an outburst during Tasmania’s Marsh One-Day Cup loss to Victoria on Monday.

Wade will miss two matches, including Wednesday’s loss to New South Wales at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.

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It is the 35-year-old’s third Level 1 breach of the Cricket Australia Code of Conduct, specifically for two instances of abuse of cricket equipment and audible obscenities.

After mistiming a ball for a dot ball, Wade turned around and slammed his bat on the pitch in frustration.

The 36-Test veteran accepted a charge under Article 2.5 of the Code, and a fourth charge could see him facing a ban of up to a year.

Last year, Wade threw his bat in the air after being dismissed during a Big Bash fixture against the Mebourne Renegades.

Wade being suspended for this is crazy! Administration and umpires now wanting robotic players. It’s an emotional game and this had no effect on the match, the wicket or to the next generation of players. We wonder why players will be playing across the world rather than in Aus! pic.twitter.com/r3bgH7IC1j

— Adam Crosthwaite (@AJCrosthwaite) September 27, 2023

Wade scratched his way to 25 off 51 on an uncharacteristically difficult Junction Oval surface as the Tigers lost by three wickets.

The decision divided the cricket world, with former domestic stalwart, Adam Crosthwaite, letting rip on social media.

Crosthwaite kept wickets for Victoria through the 2000s, before being forced out of the side by a young Matthew Wade, who had moved from his native Tasmania in search of opportunity.

“Wade being suspended for this is crazy,” Crosthwaite wrote on Twitter.

“Administration and umpires now wanting robotic players.

“It’s an emotional game and this had no effect on the match, the wicket or to the next generation of players. We wonder why players will be playing across the world rather than in Aus!”

The Age’s Andrew Wu, while he didn’t condone the behaviour, noted how much Wade still cared for the game in the twilight of his career.

Wade scratched his way to 25 against Victoria at the Junction. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

For all that Matthew Wade has achieved, at the age of 35 he clearly still cares,” Wu wrote.

“Of course, I wouldn’t encourage any cricketer to carry on like this.”

In the years following Adam Gilchrist’s retirement from the sport, Wade was one of a number of wicketkeepers in contention for the Test spot, and would play a number of Tests through the 2010s before transitioning to becoming a white-ball specialist.

He was the primary option from 2016 onwards in the ODI side, and the first-choice T20I keeper from 2021, helping Australia to the 2021 T20 World Cup.

More recently, Wade was seen in the Collingwood changerooms after the club’s preliminary final win over GWS, and was inadvertently part of a classic gaffe from Seven’s Brian Taylor.

During his “Roaming Brian” segment on Friday night footy after the game, the popular broadcaster spotted veteran Magpies midfielder Steele Sidebottom standing in a group of people.

“Steele Sidebottom here,” Taylor began.

“Is this the brother, Steele? It looks like a brother.”

“Matty Wade,” Sidebottom replied.

“It is too, Matty Wade the cricketer. I thought he looks like you.”

Wade is in fact the cousin of Collingwood defender Jeremy Howe, and was a talented junior footballer himself.