Australia’s wicketkeeper Matthew Wade is acutely aware of his tenuous place at the top of what is by far the national team’s most competitive market. At a time when high quality batsmen and spin bowlers are in short supply and fast bowlers are almost as likely to drop with injury as they are to flourish, Australia has seldom had a more bounteous supply of glovemen. While Phillip Hughes was recalled after his first Sheffield Shield century of the summer, Wade knows that behind him in the queue lurks a small army of stumpers. His predecessor Brad Haddin, keen on one more Ashes tour, is swinging from the hip for New South Wales with a reconfigured batting grip. Tim Paine has battled back manfully from a serious finger fracture and took the Australia A gloves this year. Chris Hartley maintains a never less than fastidious standard behind the stumps for Queensland and has grown his batting notably. And this is all without mentioning the likes of Peter Nevill, Tom Triffitt and Peter Handscomb, all considered worthy of eventual national call-ups. Wade regularly runs his eyes across the competition, the resurgent Haddin in particular, and has resolved to play each match in the manner Ricky Ponting approached the Perth Test – as his last. “Every time you walk out onto the ground for Australia you’ve got to live that moment. Every time could be your last,” Wade said. “So in that regard, I do live the moment I suppose for Australia. I keep an eye on cricket games and, yeah, Hadds is playing really nicely and he was always going to. A world-class player.
