Matthew Wade: “I feel like if I’m given the opportunity again, if things fall into place close to the World Cup I can still play in that for sure”

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Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade has revealed that he is determined to regain his spot in the ODI squad ahead of the 2019 World Cup.

Wade last played ODI cricket in October 2017, while his last Test match for Australia came in September last year.

While he concedes that his Test career is likely over, the 30-year-old firmly believes that he still has a future in limited overs cricket.

“I don’t think I’ll probably play Test cricket again, not as a wicket-keeper batter anyway,” Wade told cricket.com.au as quoted by the International Cricket Council’s website.”I still have the ambition to play white-ball cricket for Australia. With the World Cup just around the corner I don’t feel that anyone’s cemented their spots since I went out of the team 12 months ago in white-ball cricket.

“I feel like if I’m given the opportunity again, if things fall into place close to the World Cup I can still play in that for sure.”

Meanwhile, Wade admitted that he is leaning towards becoming a specialist batsman and giving up standing behind the stumps.

“I want to be as good a batter as I can be,” he said. “I’d like to be able to not keep and play as a batter in the last few years of my career. That’s where I’d like to get to.

“I’ll play as a keeper-batter in the white-ball [formats] probably until the end of my career. I feel I’m moving towards becoming more of a batter toward the back end of my career but at the moment I’ll be playing as a wicketkeeper.”