‘Horrible’: Ricky Ponting fumes at reckless Matthew Wade after rush of blood to the head

Australian batsman Matthew Wade is facing heavy scrutiny from cricket greats after a bizarre rush of blood to the head at the SCG.

Australia's Matthew Wade top edges and is out caught.

Matthew Wade’s temperament has come under question after the Australian batsman’s “reckless” dismissal against India at the SCG.

Australia was on track for a large first innings total on Friday before Wade needlessly threw away his wicket in the 77th over.

Facing Ravindra Jadeja, Wade looked to attack the Indian spinner by charging down the pitch, but only managed to spoon a regulation catch to Jasprit Bumrah at mid-on.

It was an ugly dismissal from the 33-year-old, which understandably resulted in a flood of criticism from commentators and fans.

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As pointed out by former Australian batsman Mark Waugh, it was almost identical to Wade’s wicket in the first innings of the Boxing Day Test.

“It’s a poor dismissal, the same as in Melbourne,” Waugh said on Fox Cricket.

“It’s a Test match there’s no need to do that. It’s good to be aggressive but if the balls not there then you’ve got to pull out of the shot and knock it down for one.

“It was a nothing dismissal, you have got to do better than that. He was being a little too aggressive. Your shot selection has got to be better than that, you are gifting your wicket.”

Ravindra Jadeja of India celebrates his wicket off Australian batsman Matthew Wade.

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Former Test spinner Kerry O’Keeffe added: “Matthew Wade was undone as he was in Melbourne by Ashwin’s flight. He advanced, he wasn’t to the pitch and it was an ugly slice across the line.

“There’s a difference between being busy and reckless and he was busy while he there, but that was a reckless shot.”

Wade’s departure brought the inexperienced Cameron Green to the crease, and the 21-year-old was soon subjected to a tough passage of play against the new ball.

Green was dismissed by Indian seamer Jasprit Bumrah for a duck moments before the lunch interval, trapped in front LBW by a delivery which dipped past the inside edge of his bat.

Former Australian Test captain Ricky Ponting promptly accused Wade of lacking match awareness, arguing the left-hander was partially responsible for Green’s wicket.

“Matthew Wade needs to have a lot more game awareness,” Ponting said on Channel 7.

“What he’s done by getting out is expose Cameron Green to the new ball, a guy in his third Test, and for mine that is just not thinking enough about the situation of the game.”

Former Australian batsman Michael Hussey elaborated on Fox Cricket: “He’s just giving his wicket away, they are low percentage shots.

“He exposed Cameron Green to the new ball just before lunch.”

Horrible shot from Matthew Wade. Read the flow of the game 🤷‍♂️😬

— brad davidson (@braddavo) January 8, 2021

Wade needs an IQ test. To find out if he has one. #AUSvIND

— Tunku Varadarajan (@tunkuv) January 8, 2021

Wade throwing his wicket away exposes Green to the new ball and he inevitably falls for a duck after 21 balls... Snowballs! #AUSvIND

— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) January 8, 2021

Wade not doing himself any favours with dismissals like that one

— Darren Parkin (@Darren_Parkin) January 8, 2021

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Wade has now failed to reach fifty in 11 consecutive Test innings, each of which were on home soil.

The Tasmanian was arguably on the verge of losing his spot in the Test side this week, but national selectors opted to axe teammate Travis Head instead.

Some pundits have already questioned whether selectors made the right call, considering Wade averages 30.66 in Test cricket while Head averages 39.75.

Former Australian paceman Jason Gillespie conceded he was bemused to discover Head had been dropped from the starting XI.

“I just feel he always seems to be the one that’s questioned,” Gillespie told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

“That’s a frustration. He’s averaging 40 in Test cricket after 19 Test matches. Mark Waugh played 127 games and averaged 41. Why is Travis under such scrutiny? I find it staggering.”