Matthew Wade

[Scotland]

There would be an abundance of cricket fans out there who are more in touch with what some of the up & coming Australian players have achieved in domestic cricket than what the majority of the Channel 9 commentary team are. How they can even pretend to know much about the likes of Richardson, Cutting, Maxwell, Finch etc astounds me. Instead of poncing around at various social events when the Tests & ODIs aren't on, they should all be acquainting themselves with the domestic cricket scene in this country.

Yep. I watch the odd bit of Big Bash and Ryobi Cup here and there but I by no means follow domestic cricket avidly and I still feel like I know more about guys like those listed than the Ch 9 team. There would be people out there who watch every minute of domestic cricket they can and probably know the players inside out. You would't think it is that much to ask for the blokes that earn a living calling the game to watch a few games.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Yep. I watch the odd bit of Big Bash and Ryobi Cup here and there but I by no means follow domestic cricket avidly and I still feel like I know more about guys like those listed than the Ch 9 team. There would be people out there who watch every minute of domestic cricket they can and probably know the players inside out. You would't think it is that much to ask for the blokes that earn a living calling the game to watch a few games.

My big concern was the commentators were referring to ODD games as 'First Class' matches.

Surely they realise there is a difference between List A matches and First Class matches?

 

[Scotland]

Pfft, ODD. It's the Mercantile Mutual Cup.

 

[Simple Jack]

My big concern was the commentators were referring to ODD games as 'First Class' matches.

Surely they realise there is a difference between List A matches and First Class matches?

That is concerning. But to be fair I would say a large majority of cricket fans wouldn't know what List A is (even if they know what First Class is).

 

[mediumsizered]

Pfft, ODD. It's the Mercantile Mutual Cup.

It will always be the Gillette Cup to me.

 

[TassieEagle]

It will always be the Gillette Cup to me.

This is how we deduce everyones age. Ford Ranger Cup for me

 

[Simple Jack]

Mercantile Mutual but mostly ING cup. Complete with iirc those boards at the point and sq leg boundaries that had cash rewards for hitting them on the full. And some amount of money if you took a crowd catch too.

 

[Andrew Mc]

It will always be the Gillette Cup to me.

I remember Gillette, but McDonald's for me.

 

[Hellgood]

Mercantile Mutual but mostly ING cup. Complete with iirc those boards at the point and sq leg boundaries that had cash rewards for hitting them on the full. And some amount of money if you took a crowd catch too.

Caused many an argument and awkward situations where a player would hit it and assume that he gets to keep it... except all states made an unofficial rule that it goes towards the teams end of season trip/piss up.

 

[Kim Hagdorn]

Hopefully Wade doesn't make a fool of himself if he goes to India, a tough place to keep and he's very poor up at the stumps.

 

[Slax]

Wade shouldd efinitely be going to India and should be behind the wicket, only thing is I reckon he should be a few paces to the side of the stumps with bare hands, reckon he would make an excellent slips fieldsman. If they are going to send Watson as purely a batsman then they must send Wade for the same reason as he is better at it than Watson is.

 

[Underarm]

Wade shouldd efinitely be going to India and should be behind the wicket, only thing is I reckon he should be a few paces to the side of the stumps with bare hands, reckon he would make an excellent slips fieldsman. If they are going to send Watson as purely a batsman then they must send Wade for the same reason as he is better at it than Watson is.

the best thing for him is to get through this summer. considering the sharp decline in veiwership for the India series the pressure is far less than it is in Australia. He did well in West Indies.

 

[Caesar]

Personally I would prefer Wade to play as a specialist batsman in Tests and a batsman/wicketkeeper in ODIs. I think he would be a much better player for it, and ultimately provide us with a much stronger Test middle order (which is what we really need).

Most of the time our Test tail bats reasonably long anyway. I wouldn't be too bothered with a keeper at 7 who consistently makes 'pretty 30s'.

 

[The Speaker]

Personally I would prefer Wade to play as a specialist batsman in Tests and a batsman/wicketkeeper in ODIs. I think he would be a much better player for it, and ultimately provide us with a much stronger Test middle order (which is what we really need).

Most of the time our Test tail bats reasonably long anyway. I wouldn't be too bothered with a keeper at 7 who consistently makes 'pretty 30s'.

Our very own Sangakkara. Sounds good to me.

 

[frankrizzo]

I still think wade deserves a shot in india, it's not like he is incapable of keeping competently, he kept very well in the west indies on more difficult pitches than the ones at home.

Obviously his confidence and concentration dropped alarmingly in the last few tests of the summer but i think it's too early to throw him on the scrap heap.

 

[CAS79]

I see Wade had a training session with Healey.. Haddin did too last summer.

The fact our keepers need to run for help when the fielding coach is a former keeper is concerning... Berry/Coyle, the national team needs you to work with the keepers.

Rixon, it's time to write your book now

 

[TheWoodenSlug]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-sri-lanka-2012/content/current/story/601039.html

Certainly nothing wrong with his attitude. Took Healy's comments on the chin and realises he has work to do. I reckon tiredness had a bit to do with his glove work in the last few tests. Hopefully he will only get better and better behind the stumps.

 

[sherb]

It will always be the Gillette Cup to me.

Meh, you're just a baby.

V&G Knockout for me (as in Vehicle and General insurance).

 

[mediumsizered]

Meh, you're just a baby.

V&G Knockout for me (as in Vehicle and General insurance).

You are definitely showing your age.

 

[The Passenger]

Personally I would prefer Wade to play as a specialist batsman in Tests and a batsman/wicketkeeper in ODIs. I think he would be a much better player for it, and ultimately provide us with a much stronger Test middle order (which is what we really need).

I've been speaking to a few people and I think we are coming to around the idea of trying out Wade as a batsmen at number six. I don't think he's up for batting any higher than that is test cricket.

On performances he's a better batsmen than Cowan, Hughes, Watson, Khawaja and Doolan and barring a massive turn around from Watson, Hughes is the only one of that lot who I reckon will be a better batsmen than Wade in the long run, though Khawaja certainly could be a solid but unsepctacular top order batsmen.

But because I can't really see Wade moving higher than six in the batting order, and unless Michael Clarke is willing to move up permanently to number 4 then it means that any new batsmen coming into the team, or any all rounder is going to have to bat in the top four.

For some new batsmen this isn't going to be a problem - for instance Usman has always batted up the top of the order, but for some it might - if the Queenslanders Burns and/or Lynn were going to get blooded into the Australian team, even though they've batted top four for Queensland you'd feel they're probably the types to ease in at number 5 or 6 and work they're way up the order as they get more experienced.

And as we've seen with Watson over the last 5 years and pretty much any bloke trying to be a genuine world class all rounder (bar the freak Kallis), batting top four and sharing a fairly solid workload is just very very very tough work... And given the selectors are determined to find an all rounder (*sigh*), this is going to a problem. Aside from Watson having the potential to be one again, we just don't have anyone read to be a genuine test match all rounder and those that are closest to being there - Maxwell and Smith (hmmmm), you really wouldn't have them coming in any higher than top six in test cricket either...

In any case having a lower order of
5 - Wade
6 - Maxwell/Smith
7 - Hartley/Paine

is not the most fail safe back up plan you'd ever see

tl;dr:
1 - wade is probably in our best six batsmen if he wasn't too keep, but three things hold that plan up
2 - probably shouldn't be batting higher than six
3 - selectors determination to find an all rounder whether they're ready for test cricket or not
4 - clarke's reluctance to move to four on a permanent basis

 

[Bradesmaen]

Wade does not have the temperament nor the ability to be a test class batsman that doesn't keep.

 

[The Passenger]

Wade does not have the temperament nor the ability to be a test class batsman that doesn't keep.

His performances thus far, and his performances for Victoria over the years, suggest he'd give it as good a crack as any of the other blokes who have currently been getting a gig. Not exactly saying much, but you can only work with what you've got.

 

[Phone]

Wade does not have the temperament nor the ability to be a test class batsman that doesn't keep.

neither do most of the people on the sidelines though

 

[Bradesmaen]

neither do most of the people on the sidelines though

True, says a lot about the players coming through...

 

[bird_man]

Wade does not have the temperament nor the ability to be a test class batsman that doesn't keep.

You really have no idea. He has already shown he has the temperament and the ability to get Australia out of trouble. Both of his centuries he was under the pump and probably won the game for us. Would make a good number 6, he has shown he can knuckle down and get us out of trouble and can make quick runs when needed. I don't think we should take the gloves off him though, he deserves more of a chance.