Published: Aug 18, 2017, 07:11 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 18, 2017, 07:56 PM (IST)
Australia‘s skipper Steven Smith has ruled out the possibility of handing wicketkeeping responsibilities to Peter Handscomb instead of regular glovesman Matthew Wade ahead of the two-Test series versus Bangladesh. Addressing the media prior to the team’s departure, Smith backed Wade who has been under fire with the bat and assured his place behind the stumps.
“Matty (Wade), in India, had some good innings without going on to get a big score. His plans were really good and the way he plays spin and adapts is really good, so it would be great if we could have him go on and get a big score. It would be really good for his confidence and his keeping would benefit from that as well. He’s been working really hard, he’s got (newly appointed Bupa Support Team member) Brad Haddin on board now as a fielding coach and someone that he can work with really closely, and he’s going to benefit from that for sure”, Smith told Cricket Australia.
Wade has scored a solitary fifty in the last 13 innings ever since his return to Test side replacing Peter Neville. In this context, former wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist had stated that excluding Wade for the Bangladesh series could be a ‘real proposition’ made possible by Handscomb’s quality as both a middle-order batsman and wicketkeeper.”It’s just about balance and what you think is the right balance to get the Test match victory in the conditions you’re going to”, said the 45-year-old.
