Matthew Wade: “I hope now we don’t go too far the other way and lose all our drive … and try and play like New Zealand”

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Matthew Wade has warned Australia not to go overboard with their change in identity following the ball tampering scandal that shocked the cricketing community.

It is understood that Warner played a leading role in the scandal, which occurred on the third day of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town, as he told fellow opening batsman Cameron Bancroft to alter the condition of the ball with sandpaper.

As a result, Warner and Steve Smith were banned for 12 months by Cricket Australia, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months. Smith won’t be allowed to captain Australia for two years, while Warner won’t be considered for leadership roles in the future.

In the aftermath of the scandal, Tim Paine, who was handed the captaincy, spoke of his desire to repair the team’s tarnished reputation.

“When I got back into the team (after five straight losses in 2016), there was a lot of media and public stir about how they wanted the team to have a crack through that period. They felt like we were rolling over a little bit,” Wade told News Corp as quoted by cricket.com.au. “I hope now we don’t go too far the other way and lose all our drive … and try and play like New Zealand.

“Every team needs a bit of competitiveness on the field. What happened in South Africa wasn’t a good look. But I just think we need to be careful about what direction we go in from here.”

Given the damage that has been done to the national team, Wade admitted that he will now have to assess his own approach.

“You want to be playing for Australia, but there was certainly a part of me that was feeling a touch lucky I wasn’t there (in Cape Town),” he said. “When I came in, the game was a lot different, there’s no doubt about that. But now the game is moving in a different direction and certainly with the stuff that’s happened in South Africa I will look at the way I go about it.”