Matthew Wade, debuting for the national team during the recent Commonwealth Bank tri-series, ticked all the boxes to suggest he should become Brad Haddin’s permanent successor.
- He scores runs. And fast. Like Gilchrist used to do.
- He takes catches. Haddin’s glove-work looked very shabby during the recent test series against India.
- He has the “keeper’s beard” – see MS Dhoni, Matt Prior, Kumar Sangakkara.
While Brad Haddin has been an apt replacement for Gilchrist since 2008, he’s never quite filled the great wicketkeeper-batsman’s shoes. And while I’m not suggesting that Wade is currently of the same standard of Gilchrist, he’s a step better than the aging Haddin. Wade is currently 24, ten-years younger than Haddin, and playing superior cricket than his senior.
The Australian selectors have been relatively quick and decisive this summer in terms of letting out of form players go. When it has come to giving the veterans of the squad the ‘tap on the shoulder’ – such as when Ricky Ponting was axed from the ODI squad in January – the selectors have been all-but ruthless. So surely Haddin’s ‘resting’ for the tri-series is the selector’s method of phasing him out.
The selectors have also – some would say finally – tried to merge both youth and experience into the national team. Senior players such as Ponting, Clarke, Mike Hussey continue to support the middle order; while Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Ryan Harris, comprise the ‘veteran’ bowling stocks.
While most of the aforementioned are somewhere around the 30-year-old mark, the squad is complemented by an injection of youth, and what appears to be a growing youth policy.
When Pat Cummins took six second-innings wickets against South Africa in the second test last November, it seemed to herald the beginning of a sub-renaissance in Australian cricket. The selectors opted to go play somewhat raw, fresh talent over established choices. And it paid off.
Cummins sadly succumbed to injury in the lead-up to the test series against New Zealand in December, and was replaced by a 21-year-old quick from Victoria; James Pattinson. Pattinson debuted in a similar vein to Cummins, taking five-for-27 in the second innings of his first test match.
Following the short Kiwi tour was a four-test series against India. Australia’s bowling attack of a strong Peter Siddle, a revolutionised Ben Hilfenhaus, and the emerging talent of Pattinson all combined, under bowling coach and ex-test player Craig McDermott, to tear apart the then world number two Indians. The middle order or Clarke, Ponting and Hussey, the latter two dubbed by many parts of the media as past it, scoring centuries at the SCG, followed by a double-century for Ponting at the Adelaide Oval.
Although the test batting and bowling seemed sound, the wicket-keeping was not so. Haddin scuffed a number of chances through the series, and was nowhere near the scoring form he had perhaps shown in the past.
Following the test-series, the selectors opted to ‘rest’ Haddin in favour of Victorian keeper Matthew Wade. Wade quickly made his mark in both the T20 and ODI competitions, with a swashbuckling 72 off 43 balls, backed up with a knock of 67 runs from just 69 balls in his One-Day debut.
Wade went on to make 278 runs in the nine tri-series matches, as well as taking 17 dismissals behind the stumps.
Tim Paine was given the nod ahead in place of an injured Haddin against Pakistan in 2012, and looked a strong prospect for the future. Yet Wade, three years younger than Paine, looks a better candidate to don the gloves on April 7 in Barbados.
At 34, it is time to say ‘thanks, and farewell’ to Haddin, and look to the future. Just as the selectors have moved on from the likes of Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait and Simon Katich with the intention of mounting a successful assault on the 2015 ODI World Cup, now they should do the same with Haddin.
The youth development policy of Australian cricket has to continue. And Matthew Wade has to be the number one keeper in the West Indies this autumn.
Oh, and he’s a Victorian. Sort of.
Shane Palmer is a third year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe, and is part of the upstart editorial team. You can follow him on Twitter: @SDPalmer12.
