Gloves are off and so is the pressure for Test batsman Matthew Wade

Test batsman Matthew Wade said ditching the wicketkeeping duties has helped make him a new cricketer.

DROPPING the gloves has left Matthew Wade enjoying cricket more than ever.

The Test middle-order batsman played his first 22 Tests as a wicketkeeper-batsman, but is now in the team as a specialist batsman.

He will return to the Tigers squad on Thursday and play his first game of the domestic season on Sunday for Tasmania in a 50-over match against South Australia in Adelaide.

While he will keep for the Tigers’ one-day team and the Hurricanes in the BBL, he said his days as a Test or first-class glovesman are over.

“I’ve really enjoyed just playing as a batter over the last half of the year, it is certainly a different feeling, you can relax a lot more,” Wade said.

“I find myself at mid-off just shining the ball and you can switch off.

“The game certainly doesn’t feel as long as it has felt in the past, certainly Test matches.

“You are always under pressure when you are batting or keeping and I felt that when I played my first 20-odd games of Test cricket.

“The last little bit I felt a lot more relaxed out on the ground and it was nice just to stand there and chill a bit.”

Matthew Wade guides the ball through covers during the fifth Ashes Test. Picture: Getty

After a long domestic summer where he forced himself back into national conversations owing to his sheer weight of runs, Wade returned from England where he played for Australia A, all five Tests and both tour games against county sides between Tests.

He played a vital role in helping Australia retain the Ashes for the first time since 2001, scoring two centuries in his return to the baggy green.

WADE EYEING OFF MORE TEST TONS

But after a few days at home with preschooler Winter and newborn Goldie, he joked he was ready to get back into cricket.

“I had a few days off, getting kids over jet lag so not a lot of time to relax, they were up and about nice and early in the morning,” he said.

“I’ve been enjoying a little bit of a break and then off tomorrow morning to get into it.”