Wade confirms international retirement and moves into coaching

After enjoying years of playing while his career was on the brink, Matthew Wade has finally made time for a 13-year international career spanning 225 games across all formats.

Wade, who played 36 Tests and 189 limited-overs matches for Australia, has announced his retirement from international cricket. He will continue to play white ball cricket for Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes, as well as in some overseas competitions.

Plans for his post-playing career are already in the works, with the 36-year-old set to be Australia’s wicketkeeping and fielding coach for next month’s T20 series against Pakistan.

Wade played his last Test and ODI in 2021 and has openly admitted that his T20I career could have ended that same year had he not played his instrumental role in delivering Australia’s first T20 Men’s World Cup title in the UAE.

The wicketkeeper-batsman’s semi-final against Pakistan was his finest moment in colored clothing and saw him retain the gloves for the ICC’s two subsequent T20 events, in 2022 and 2024.

But Australia’s exit at the hands of eventual champions India in the Caribbean earlier this year spelled the end.

“I’m officially retiring,” Wade, who ended his first-class career late last summer, told cricket.com.au.

“It’s been an ongoing discussion for pretty much every tour or World Cup I’ve been on over the last three or four years.

“It was a very fluid conversation I’ve had with George (Bailey, chief selector) and Ronnie (coach Andrew McDonald) over the last six months or since the last World Cup finished.

“Even in the run-up to the last World Cup we have been very open and communicated very well about where I am with my career.

“If we went to the last World Cup and managed to get some points and win it, then maybe things would look a little bit different and maybe I would continue… it was just kind of an understanding from all of us.”

Wade, who recently completed his level three coaching certificate and has ambitions of one day becoming a head coach, backed Josh Inglis to take over as T20I gloveman. The pair will work together during the Pakistan series.

Born in Tasmania, Wade moved to Victoria as a teenager after falling behind Tim Paine for the first-choice ‘custodian’ spot. He went on to win four Sheffield Shield titles in his adopted state, two as captain, before returning to the Apple Isle in 2017.

He made his T20I and ODI debuts during the summer of 2011-12 before winning his Baggy Green in Barbados in 2012 when Brad Haddin left due to personal reasons. He hit his maiden century in his third Test in Dominica and kept Haddin out of the side until 2013.

Wade joined Paine, Haddin and Peter Nevill in all formats in the following years before a breakthrough 2017-18 Sheffield Shield campaign saw him earn a Test call-up as a specialist batsman for the 2019 Ashes.

He finished with four Test tons, two of which came during that drawn Ashes campaign, as well as one in ODIs, but perhaps his finest moment came when he rescued his side with a 17-ball 41 in the 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan. .

The left-handed Wade made the No. 7 spot his own after that win, complementing powerful right-handers Tim David and Marcus Stoinis with his ability to hit square to the wicket. He also held the position of T20 captain 13 times between December 2020 and February 2024.

Inglis, on the other hand, has emerged as a different style of player during his spells alongside or in place of Wade, being used more through the middle and also spending some time as an opener and number 3.

With two old T20 players calling it quits after this year’s World Cup – David Warner also played his last international – Australia now has two years to get some new faces in the run-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

“It probably became clear after we lost to India,” said Wade. “That was the moment when I really sat down and thought that this was probably the end of my career.

“That was an emotional moment. The relationships that I built, especially over the last three years on that team, I really enjoy playing on that team, and I really felt connected to that group of players and that coaching staff.

“That was a real moment where I sat down and thought, and probably got a little emotional about the whole thing.

“Luckily I was playing well enough over the last few years, and the way the team worked with Dave in the team, I was set to bat seven, and they wanted me to continue that position in the latter role.

“The time was right for Ingo (Inglis) to come in. You can see what he has done in the last (few months) he has been in the team as the No. 1 goalkeeper. He was certainly ready to come in come and get the ball.” that role.

“They are looking for maybe someone who can now hit more from the top to the middle and that suits him very well. He feels really comfortable and is happy that he now has an opportunity.”

Australia v Pakistan limited overs series 2024

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Pakistan ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan, Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Agha Salman, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Irfan Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi

November 4: MCG, 2:30pm AEDT

November 8: Adelaide Oval, 2:30pm AEDT

November 10: Perth Stadium, 2:30pm AEDT

Australia T20 squad: Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Pakistan T20 squad: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Abbas Afridi, Agha Salman, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Irfan Khan, Jahandad Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan.

November 14: Gabba, 7pm AEDT

November 16: SCG: 7pm AEDT

November 18: Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 7pm AEDT

All matches live and exclusively on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports