Matthew Wade, Australian’s stand-in skipper in 2nd T20I after Aaron Finch was out injured said if Steve Smith is assigned captaincy again would do a good job in the leadership role as he gives plenty of inputs on how the team will be manoeuvred while fielding.
Steve Smith lost his captaincy for his involvement in 2018 ball-tampering scandal and was banned for a year along-with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. Tim Paine replaced Steve Smith as Test captain and Aaron Finch as T20I and ODI captain.
Matthew Wade: Australia Have Got Good Leaders But Steve Smith Will Do Well If He Is Reassigned With Opportunity Of Captaincy
The 32-year-old wicket-keeper Matthew Wade represented Australia since 2011 in 32 test, 94 ODIs and 32 T20Is. He scored 58 in Australia’s 2nd T20I against India where he was top scorer and stood as captain after Aaron Finch was ruled out due to injury.
“We have so many good leaders, I have been given the captaincy but we have got Smith, we have got Moises (Henriques), who captains his BBL team. We have guys with a lot of experience, there is a lot of discussions among the seniors but we are all working together,” Wade said.
“It is not me driving the field, obviously Finchy (Aaron Finch) is our captain and we all work together when he plays well. So Smith has plenty of say, he has been a great captain for long time and he will do a great job if he gets an opportunity,” he added.
Matthew Wade, who leads the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League, hasn’t been in great form in T20I cricket recently with scores of 7, 14, 10 and 1 in his last 4 games in the format before scoring 58 in a lost cause against India.
Matthew Wade Feels Like Restarting Career Debuting At 30
In December 2020, Matthew Wade captained Australia for the first time in international cricket, for the second Twenty20 International match against India, after Aaron Finch was ruled out due to an injury. But his 58 wasn’t enough for Australia as India clinched T20I series after losing the preceding ODI series.
“Yes, I’m 32, and I’ve been around a long time, but I see myself as a completely different player. Matthew Wade, the guy that played as wicketkeeper-batter, is a completely different player than the one that’s been playing the last three years,” Wade said.
“I almost feel like I restarted my career a couple of years ago, debuting at 30,” added the player, who smashed a thrilling fifty in the second T20I.
“Age is always spoken about when you get to my age and that’s the nature of the beast. Every game I play for Australia is one that I didn’t think I’d get and whether that’s my last game or whether I’ll play another 50, that doesn’t faze me,” he added.
On being handed the captaincy, Wade said, “…this game moves fast and sometimes things happen that are quite unexpected and that’s exactly what’s happened in this scenario. There’s plenty of guys that could have done it on the ground at the time which made it a lot easier for me.”
Australia are nursing injuries to several key players. In contrast, some players are rested, and test specialists are representing Australia A in the tour practice match against India A like Cameron Green.
The Australia squad is constantly reshuffled with injury to David Warner, Aaron Finch, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood and pacers Pat Cummins is rested for T20I series and Mitchell Starc withdrew on personal grounds from last 2 T20Is. Marcus Stoinis recovered to play 2nd T20I while Mitchell Marsh remains unavailable.