Matthew Wade, the star Australian wicketkeeper-batter who played in 36 Tests, and 97 and 92 ODIs, announced his international cricket retirement on Tuesday (October 29). The 36-year-old cricketer who was instrumental in Australia won the T20 World Cup title of 2021, last played for the national team on June 24, 2024, in the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 fixture against India at Gros Islet.
In more than thirteen years of being on the international scene, he has featured in numerous match-winning performances for the national team across all the three formats of the game and made 1613, 1867, and 1202 runs in Test, ODI, and T20I formats respectively. He also captained Australia in a few T20Is. In domestic leagues, he will still participate for Tasmania and Hobart Hurricanes as well as other venues and clubs during the season.
After that Wade will straight take up the role of national team assistant coach, almost immediately. He is to be appointed as the wicketkeeping and fielding coach for the T20 series against Pakistan next month. Australia will take on Pakistan in three T20 Internationals on November 14, 16 and 18 in Brisbane, Sydney and Hobart respectively.
“I’m officially retiring,” Wade was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. on Tuesday. “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 very fluent conversation that I’ve had with George (Bailey, chief selector) and Ronnie (coach Andrew McDonald) and the last six months or since that World Cup got over.”
“Even before the last World Cup, I have been very frank and there has been very good dialog between us on where I am with my career. I would assume that had we gone to the last World Cup, I had made some runs and we won the cup, then it would have been a little different story and I might have continued… It was just kind of an understanding from all of us.”
Wade, who recently finished his Level Three coaching certificate in order to hopefully one day become a head coach, has endorsed Josh Inglis as the man to take over from him as the wicketkeeper for Australia. The 29-year-old Inglis was announced on Monday as part of Australia’s 13-member T20I squad to face Pakistan at home.
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