Matthew Wade has decided it’s the right time for him to hang up his gloves. The 36-year-old wicketkeeper has decided that the T20 World Cup match against India in June will be his last for Australia as he moves on to new beginnings. Wade will continue to play for Tasmania, the Hobart Hurricanes, in the upcoming Big Bash League season and some other T20 franchise tournaments.
Matthew Wade announces international retirement
“I’m officially retiring,” Wade told cricket.com.au. “It’s been an ongoing discussion for pretty much every tour or every World Cup that I’ve been on in the last three or four years. It’s been a really fluent conversation that I’ve had with George (Bailey, chief selector) and Ronnie (coach Andrew McDonald) over the last six months or since the last World Cup finished. Even leading into the last World Cup, we’ve been really open and had really great communication around where I’m at with my career.”
“If we went into the last World Cup and I managed to get some runs and we won that, then things would look maybe a little different and maybe I’d keep going … it was just kind of an understanding from all of us.”
When it finally hit Wade
After Australia suffered a convincing defeat at the hands of India in Gros Islet and got knocked out of the T20 World Cup 2024, Wade made up his mind that now’s the time for him to move on. He’d helped Australia win the 2021 T20 World Cup thanks to that marvelous 41-run knock in the semifinal against Pakistan, but failure to get another win forced him to take the call on his international career.
“It probably hit home after we lost against India. That was when I really sat down and reflected that that was probably the end of my career. That was an emotional moment. The relationships that I’ve built, more over the last three years in that team – I really enjoy playing in that team, and I felt really connected to that playing group and that coaching staff.”
“That was a real moment that I sat down and reflected, and probably got a little bit emotional about the whole thing. Thankfully I was playing well enough for the last couple of years, and the way that the team lined up with Dave (David Warner) in the team, that I was going to be batting seven, and they wanted me to continue that position in the finishing role.”
Coaching ambitions
Wade has already taken up coaching. He recently completed his Level Three coaching certificate and will join Australia’s support staff as the fielding and wicketkeeping coach for the upcoming ODI and T20I series against Pakistan. “Coaching has been on my radar over the last few years and thankfully some great opportunities have come my way, for which I am very grateful and excited,” Wade said on re-joining cricket as a coach.
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