Shock and dismay at the continued exclusion of Tasmanian star Matthew Wade

Disappointment is turning into confusion and bewilderment over the continual non-selection of run machine Matthew Wade for any form of national representation.

Wade has been overlooked for the 15-man Twenty20 and one-day international squad to tour India later this month. Picture: AAP Image/Rob Blakers

DISAPPOINTMENT is turning into confusion and bewilderment over the continual non-selection of run machine Matthew Wade for any form of national representation.

Wade has been overlooked for the 15-man Twenty20 and one-day international squad to tour India later this month, despite being the leading run-scorer in the Sheffield Shield and second highest T20 run-scorer in the Big Bash League.

Domestic 50-over form could not be a criteria because the JLT One-Day Cup Series has not been played since October­ last year.

The only man with more BBL runs than Wade, teammate D’Arcy Short, was selected but only for the first part of the tour as cover for Shaun Marsh, who is recovering from a hamstring strain and awaiting the birth of his second child.

Fan favourite Wade signs autographs for supporters in the crowd during the Hurricanes v Renegades Big Bash League Match at Blundstone Arena on Thursday. Picture: SCOTT BARBOUR/GETTY IMAGES

Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said Wade was passed over for Test selection due to batting at No. 6 for Tasmania, however, no such reason was given or stands up to scrutiny for his white-ball exclusion given he opens for the Hurricanes.

The Mercury asked Cricket Australia for any reasons why Wade was not selected but did not receive a response.

Cricket Tasmania chief executive Nick Cummins and CT high performance manager Drew Ginn were none the wiser as to why the Tigers and Hurricanes captain was not being selected.

“It is frustrating, I’m not really­ sure what else he needs to do,” Cummins said.

“He’s just got to keep going out there and making runs.

“Last time ‘Griff’ [coach Adam Griffith] did ask, and he got the explanation he needed to be batting in the top four.

“That is kind of the extent of the explanation.”

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Ginn, a former Olympic gold-medal rower, said he hoped that Wade’s exclusion wasn’t about character perceptions from his previous time as an Australian player.

“My hope is they haven’t written him off because what we’ve seen with the Tigers and the Hurricanes is Wadey has done an exceptional job, not only doing the captaincy job, but he’s really brought a great competitive edge,” Ginn said.

“He’s probably had a history where people have potentially seen that competitiveness in the past, and at the time he has pushed the boundary, and maybe they are assuming that about him now.

“What we are seeing is a person doing some outstanding things and learning from his role, his impact and his influence.

“Our challenge is not letting that be a distraction for us or for him, because obviously every time you are performing well you hope you are being measured by your performance on the field and not character attributes that potentially people could look at from stories from the past.”