Matthew Wade plans to retire after T20 WC next year
BRISBANE: Australia wicketkeeper batter Matthew Wade on Thursday said he may “walk into sunset” after the T20 World Cup Down Under next year.
Wade had blazed his way to an unbeaten 17-ball 41 effort to play a pivotal role in Australia’s dramatic five-wicket victory against Pakistan in the semifinal of the recently concluded T20 World Cup.
However he missed out on a Test spot to Alex Carey for the Ashes and now the stumper’s goal is defending the T20 World Cup title at home.
“That’ll be my next motivation – hopefully get to that World Cup, defend the title and then I can sail off into the sunset,” Wade was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
“I certainly won’t be playing (international cricket) beyond that point. That would be my goal from here.”
The wicket-keeper also revealed that he had played final against New Zealand with a grade 2 side strain, which he got during training before the summit clash.
“I was a little bit worried the night before the game, for sure. If I had have woken up and I couldn’t swing the bat, I wouldn’t have played,”
“I was worried that if we’d batted first and I had to go as hard as I could and I tore it then, I wouldn’t be able to keep and that would hurt the team a lot.
“But in my mind, they would have had to strap me to the bed. I was always going to go out there and play. But I wouldn’t have played if there was a chance it was going to hurt the team.
Wade was not even able to hit balls with much force in the pre-game warm-up.
