Matthew Wade announces retirement from international cricket; Set to join Australian coaching staff for Pakistan series
Australian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade announced his retirement from international cricket and will immidiately step into a coaching role with the Aussies. The 36-year-old last played for Australia in their dismal 2024 T20 World Cup campaign in the West Indies and the USA, ending with a second-round exit.
He will continue playing for Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes and other overseas leagues.
Wade confirmed his retirement by saying via Cricket Australia (CA):
"I'm officially retiring. It's been an ongoing discussion for pretty much every tour or every World Cup that I've been on in the last three or four years. It's been a really fluent conversation that 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 leading into the last World Cup, we've been really open and had really great communication around where I'm at with my career.If we went into the last World Cup and I managed to get some runs and we won that, then things would look maybe a little different and maybe I'd keep going … it was just kind of an understanding from all of us," he added.
The highlight of Wade's career was his Player of the Match performance in the 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan, scoring a 17-ball 41* to help Australia clinch a thrilling victory.
The Men in Yellow went on to win the title by defeating New Zealand in the final and Wade played the subsequent T20 World Cups in 2022 and 2024.
"It probably hit home after we lost against India" - Matthew Wade
Matthew Wade acknowledged that the defeat to India in the 2024 T20 World Cup which ended Australia's campaign was when he realized his time in international cricket may be over.
In a do-or-die encounter for a semi-final berth, Australia suffered a 24-run loss with Wade scoring only 1 off two deliveries.
"It probably hit home after we lost against India. That was when I really sat down and reflected that that was probably the end of my career. That was an emotional moment. The relationships that I've built, more over the last three years in that team – I really enjoy playing in that team, and I felt really connected to that playing group and that coaching staff," said Wade.
"That was a real moment that I sat down and reflected, and probably got a little bit emotional about the whole thing. The time was right for Ingo (Inglis) to come in. You can see what he's done in the last (few months that) he's been in the team as the No.1 'keeper. He was certainly ready to come in and take that role," he continued.
Despite only playing T20Is for Australia over the past three years, Wade also played 36 Tests and 97 ODIs in his 13-year international career.
Overall, the veteran gloveman scored 4,682 runs with five centuries in 225 international games.