‘I see myself as a batter on this tour’ – Wade accepts he’s behind in wicket-keeping race

Wade hasn’t played international cricket since October 2017. But a tally of 1021 runs at 60.05 – the second-highest in the season – in the 2018-19 Sheffield Shield has proven to be a shot in the arm for the wicket-keeper batsman, who has been named in Australia’s 14-man squad for the first Ashes Test.

Even so, Wade is unlikely to feature in the XI, with Test captain Tim Paine set to take up the first ‘keeper’s slot, while Alex Carey has made rapid strides in limited-overs cricket with his performance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

"I don't feel like I'm pushing for that [wicket-keeper] spot too much anymore,” Wade said. “I think [Alex Carey] is going to be the next wicket-keeper for Australia. I think everyone knows that, it's just a matter of time for that to happen. It's just a luxury that I've played 20 Tests and a lot of one-dayers as a 'keeper that if something happens to Tim on the morning of a Test, then I can stand in and 'keep. I've got no issues there. I've been away for a long time and I am excited to be back."

Wade has carried his splendid Sheffield Shield form over to the tour of England, where he has already spent substantial time as part of the Australia A squad. Wade slammed two centuries in four one-day games against Northamptonshire, Derbyshire and Gloucestershire, including a career-best List A score of 155, before picking up a first-class century in the four-dayer against England Lions.

"I see myself as a batter on this tour,” he said, “and if there is an opportunity to bat at five or six, wherever it is, I am comfortable to step into it. Fingers crossed I get an opportunity.”

Wade almost didn’t make the tour of England, with him and his wife expecting their first child. He credited his family for eventually taking the flight for the A tour. "I was probably going to pass on the Australia A tour because we were going to have the baby and I rang Julia [his wife] during the [final] Shield game and basically told her I was a chance to get picked in that Australia A tour and she told me to go. So all credit to her, to be honest. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.”

The first Test begins at Edgbaston on Thursday, 1 August.