Australia v India first Test: Matthew Wade set to show versaility by opening in Adelaide
It took a venture into the real world for Matthew Wade to find a perspective-inducing circuit breaker that led to his remarkable return as a leader in the Aussie dressing room.
The man who two years ago started a carpentry apprenticeship thinking his career was over, is set to don the blue overalls for Australia.
Matthew Wade’s incredible transformation from cricketing cast-off to the square-jawed warrior Australia is poised to call on as their top order saviour for the first Test against India, has become one of the game’s best and most underrated comeback stories.
When Tim Paine was recalled from the wilderness for the 2017-18 Ashes summer, selectors sacked Wade from all formats and essentially marked his cards never to play again.
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Wade saw the writing on the wall, rolled his sleeves up and got back on the tools working for his best mate’s building company.
The man Justin Langer dubbed “Mr Fix-It” and Tim Paine hailed as “tough as nails”, literally spent six months hammering them in.
Deep down the competitive fire continued to rage, but Wade’s venture into the real world – so unusual for a modern-day cricketer – has been the perspective-inducing circuit breaker behind his remarkable return as a statesman of the dressing room.
Now in the space of 10 days, Wade has captained Australia in a Twenty20 game, and on Thursday is set to be first man through the gate to open the batting in a Test match for his country.
“He still had to train for Tassie, but he’d rock up to work on the site nice and early and bring some coffees for the boys,” said best mate, and former boss, Ben Langford.
“It was good. I think he enjoyed the normality of going to work every day with his mates and having a bit of fun and just being a bloke.
“He had to think about life after cricket. At that stage in his career things were a bit up in the air and not knowing where things were heading.
“It was a good opportunity for him to jump into it and put the nail bag on and have a crack at something different.
“Mate, he’s just determined. When people knock him back or give him no for an answer it makes him work even harder. It may sound silly but I think he might actually enjoy being knocked back because he likes to show people what he can actually do and put people in their place a little bit.”
When Wade was dropped after the 2017 tour of Bangladesh, as well as concerns over his wicket-keeping, there was a knock on him that his demeanour on tour could be too downbeat in a team which needed a lift.
Even when he started to mount a serious case for a recall, scoring bulk runs in domestic cricket, selectors dismissed him and told him he needed to bat higher up the order.
Aside from the incredible achievement of a keeper bashing down the door to return to international cricket as a specialist batsman, perhaps the greatest feather in Wade’s cap is his reincarnation as a true leader.
“Matthew Wade has almost become Mr Fix-it. He’s so well regarded,” said the man who named him stand-in T20 captain, coach Langer.
“Whoever would have thought he’d come from where he was to where he is now in all three forms of the game.
“He’s so well respected. He’s just very tough mentally and physically and has a great attitude.
“He’s an unbelievable team man.
“He’s a very, very important part of our batting line-up and our team in general actually because of his leadership.”
Paine has the ultimate respect for his boyhood neighbour from the other side of Lauderdale in Hobart.
“We saw against New Zealand last year with the short-ball stuff, he’s willing to put his body on the line for his team,” said Paine.
“We know he’s as tough as nails and he’ll do a good job no matter where he bats.”
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