Name: Matthew Wade

Matthew Scott Wade is an Australian international cricketer. He is the interim captain of the Australian cricket team in Twenty20 International cricket. Wade plays domestic cricket for the Tasmanian cricket team, which he also captains, and for the Hobart Hurricanes.

In his youth, Wade represented Tasmania in junior cricket and junior football, serving as the vice-captain of the Tassie Mariners in the TAC Cup. He played alongside future Australian Football League players like Sam Lonergan, Grant Birchall, and Jack Riewoldt. Wade also represented Australia at the 2006 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

At the age of 16, Wade faced a significant challenge when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He underwent two rounds of chemotherapy before being cleared of the disease.

Wade is color blind, a condition that has presented difficulties on the field due to the colors of certain cricket balls.

Wade's domestic career began with a solitary List A match for the Tasmania Tigers in the 2006–07 Ford Ranger One Day Cup season. With limited opportunities as a wicketkeeper in his home state due to the presence of Tim Paine, Wade moved to Victoria in the 2007/08 season. Within two years, he established himself as the state's first-choice wicketkeeper ahead of Adam Crosthwaite.

In the 2008/09 season, Wade scored his maiden first-class century. He played a crucial role in Victoria's 2009/10 Sheffield Shield final win against Queensland, scoring 96 runs after coming in at 5/60, earning him the man of the match award.

Wade was suspended and fined for pitch tampering in 2013. In February 2015, he scored his highest first-class score of 152 for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield.

In January 2011, Wade signed with the Delhi Daredevils, playing three times for them in the 2011 Indian Premier League (IPL). Wade's international breakthrough came in October 2011 when he was called up for a Twenty20 International against South Africa. In February 2012, he made his T20I debut against India in Sydney, opening the batting and scoring 72 runs from 43 balls, earning the Man of the Match award.

Following his T20I success, Wade was called up to the Australian One Day International team for the 2011–12 Commonwealth Bank Series. He won the Man of the Match award on his ODI debut, scoring 67 runs off 69 balls against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Wade made his Test debut on April 7, 2012, against the West Indies in Barbados, replacing the injured Brad Haddin. He scored his maiden Test century (106) in the third Test of the series in Roseau. Wade retained his place in the Test team until the end of the 2012–13 season, encompassing series against South Africa, Sri Lanka, and India.

However, from the 2013 Ashes series, Wade lost his Test position to Brad Haddin but maintained his limited-overs role for a period before eventually being left out of the 2015 Cricket World Cup squad. After Haddin's retirement, Wade was recalled for the ODI and T20I series against England in 2015 but lost the Test wicketkeeping position to Peter Nevill.

Wade returned to the Test team in November 2016, recalled ahead of a struggling Nevill for the third Test against South Africa and the subsequent home series against Pakistan.

On January 13, 2017, in the first ODI against Pakistan of a 5-match series, Wade scored his maiden ODI century, reaching 100 on the final ball of Australia's innings after a review overturned his earlier dismissal.

Wade served as the ODI captain of Australia in the injured Steve Smith's absence for their series against New Zealand in January 2017, though he was eventually ruled out due to a back injury.

Before the 2017/18 season, Wade returned to his home state of Tasmania for family reasons, assuming the first-choice wicketkeeper role with Tim Paine in the Test side. He was also traded from the Melbourne Renegades to the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League (BBL). Wade was named in the Sheffield Shield team of the year in March 2018.

Mid-way through the 2018/19 season, Wade was appointed captain of the Tasmanian team and the Hurricanes after Cricket Tasmania decided to remove George Bailey to focus on his batting performance.

In July 2019, Wade was added to Australia's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup as cover for the injured Usman Khawaja. Later that year, he was named in Australia's squad for the 2019 Ashes series in England, playing all five matches and scoring 337 runs across 10 innings, including two centuries.

Wade was named in a 26-man preliminary squad to begin training ahead of a possible tour to England following the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020. Cricket Australia confirmed the fixtures would take place, with Wade included in the touring party.

On December 6, 2020, Wade captained Australia for the first time, leading the side in a T20I match against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) after Aaron Finch was ruled out due to injury. In August 2021, he was named captain for Australia's five-match T20I series against Bangladesh and was also included in Australia's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Wade has scored four centuries in Test matches and one in a One Day International. His highest Test score of 117 came against England at The Oval in September 2019, while his highest ODI score of 100 not out came against Pakistan at The Gabba in January 2017.

In recent years, Wade has participated in various T20 leagues, including the IPL, where he was bought by the Gujarat Titans in 2022, the Hundred in England with Birmingham Phoenix in 2022, and the Pakistan Super League (PSL) with Karachi Kings in 2023.

In Tests, Wade has played 37 matches, scoring 1,888 runs with 4 centuries and a best of 117. In ODIs, from 98 games, he has 2,478 runs including 2 tons with a highest of 117*. His T20I numbers read 1,346 runs from 76 matches with 1 century. Wade has been most successful in domestic cricket with over 15,000 first-class runs, 7,000 List A runs, and 4,500 T20 runs across his career so far.