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Ashes a Test proving ground for Wade

3 minute read

Having proven his new approach to cricket can stand up to Test cricket during the Ashes, Matthew Wade can't wait for his first home Test in two summers.

MATTHEW WADE of Tasmania waits for the start of play during the Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Tasmania at MCG in Melbourne, Australia.
MATTHEW WADE of Tasmania waits for the start of play during the Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Tasmania at MCG in Melbourne, Australia. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Preparing for his first home Test since January 2017, Matthew Wade heads into the clash with Pakistan at the Gabba in a clear state of mind.

Any doubt Wade might have had about his reformed game standing up to the rigours of Test cricket were dispelled during the Ashes.

Wade played all five Tests, scoring two hundreds and finishing the series only behind Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne in the runs scorers for Australia.

After being axed from Australia's Test line-up in September 2017, Wade forced his way back in with two stellar summers of Sheffield Shield cricket including a 1000-plus run campaign in 2018-19.

The 31-year-old has kept up that form at the start of this domestic summer, warming up for the Test series against Pakistan with three half-centuries in his past four innings for Tasmania.

"I brought home that what I've been doing for the 18 months to two years before I got picked again will work at Test level," Wade said of his Ashes experience.

"That's what I bring back. I'm not going to change too much at all.

"I've had a good lead-in in Shield cricket, so it's just about going out there and doing what I did in England and what I've done for a couple of years now in the first class scene and just repeating that over and over again.

"Eventually runs will come, if it's not in the first Test, then it'll be in the second Test.

"I know that if I stick to my gameplan that runs will come eventually."

Oddly enough, Wade's last home Test was against Pakistan at the SCG.

Wade's first innings 29 in Australia's 220-run victory was his only double-figure score in four knocks across the three-Test series.

The wait to show his new self to Australia's Test fans is something he's eager to end on Thursday morning.

"The build-up, this is probably the worst part, the next couple of days," he said.

"Once the coin goes up it's all fun from there."

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