Australian wicketkeeper-batter Mathew Wade has announced his retirement from international cricket and will step into an assistant coaching role with the national side.
Wade calls time on a 13-year international career having appeared for Australia on more than 200 occasions, with the majority of those coming via the two white-ball formats. A T20 World Cup 2021 winner, Wade finishes up having played 36 Test matches, 97 ODIs and 92 T20Is for Australia, having also captained the ODI and T20 sides.
The wicketkeeper-batter, however, will continue to play white-ball cricket for Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes, as well as in some overseas leagues. Plans for his post-playing career are already in train with the 36-year-old set to be Australia’s wicketkeeping and fielding coach for next month’s T20 series against Pakistan.
“I was fully aware my international days were most likely over at the end of the last T20 World Cup. My international retirement and coaching has been a constant conversation with George (Bailey) and Andrew (McDonald) over the past six months,” Wade said.
“Coaching has been on my radar over the last few years and thankfully some great opportunities have come my way, for which I am very grateful and excited. I will continue to play BBL (Big Bash League) and the odd franchise league over the summer months but around those commitments as a player I am investing heavily in my coaching.
“As my international career closes, I want to thank all of my Australian teammates, staff and coaches. I enjoyed the ride as challenging as it can be at the international level. Without good people around me, I would have never got as much out of myself as I did,” he said.
