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Australian Test rookie Nic Maddinson continues to cop flak and ridicule from cricket followers after failing again yesterday. Meanwhile, his far more experienced teammate Matthew Wade has added no value to the line-up.
Somehow Wade has flown under the radar in comparison to Maddinson, despite missing three chances behind the stumps in three Tests and flopping with the blade, making just 21 runs in four innings.
Along with Maddinson, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb and Jackson Bird, Wade was one of five players brought into the Test team in the wake of their horrific losses to South Africa at Perth and Hobart.
Few cricket followers disagreed with the selections of Renshaw, Handscomb and Bird, who all were in fine form in the Sheffield Shield.
There was widespread disagreement, however, with the ascension of Maddinson and Wade. Neither player’s Shield performances over the past two seasons justified Test selection.
In that time Maddinson averaged just 32 with the bat for NSW. Wade, meanwhile, averaged 28 this summer and the same number last Shield season.
If Wade were an outstanding keeper then those ordinary batting returns for Victoria wouldn’t be so relevant. But the selectors told the public a key reason Wade was picked ahead of Nevill was because he would boost Australia’s batting.
That has not eventuated. Granted, Wade has had limited opportunities in his three Tests this summer.
Then again so has Maddinson and every man and his pooch seems happy to jettison the 25-year-old batsman. At 29 years of age, with 102 first class matches and 15 Tests to his name, Wade is a veteran. It is fair to expect he should pull his weight quickly, especially in home conditions which favour both his batting and his glovework.
There is a much greater challenge looming on the upcoming tour of India, where both batting and keeping will be far more difficult than what Wade has encountered the past three Tests. He played three of the four Tests during Australia’s shambolic visit to India in 2013, when they were pummelled 4-0.
Wade’s keeping in that series was a liability, particularly to the spinners, and he averaged just 19 with the bat from six knocks. It was Wade’s shoddy glovework in that series which cost him his Test place. He then spent more than three-and-a-half years out of the Test line-up.
During that time I frequently saw reports from pundits and fans that Wade had sharpened his glovework. From what I saw of him in domestic and ODI cricket that rang true. But he still was far from being a quality international keeper and that has been exposed during his Test comeback.
In the first Test against Pakistan at Brisbane Wade fluffed two chances. He missed a stumping off the bowling of spinner Nathan Lyon and turfed an edge earned by quick Mitchell Starc.
At Adelaide Wade stood and watched as an edge from the bat of Hashim Amla flew between he and first slip Matt Renshaw. It was Wade’s catch to take.
If Wade continues to cough up one chance per Test he will need to start scoring a lot of runs to even the ledger. Right now Australia have three glaring weaknesses.
Firstly, they haven’t had consistent output from a No.6 batsman for years. Secondly, Lyon is in a deep form trough. Thirdly, the wicketkeeper position has plagued them for almost three years.
Brad Haddin’s glovework and batting faded in the last 18 months of his career before he was usurped by Nevill during the last Ashes in England.
Nevill was given a very generous 17-Test run in the side. While his glovework was generally very good Nevill contributed little with the blade, averaging just 22.
Looking ahead to the tour of India the keeper position again looms as an Achilles heel for Australia. Wade does not bat confidently against spin and his glovework to slow bowlers is roundly considered poor.
Nevill, meanwhile, kept well to Lyon in Tests but was woeful with the bat in Sri Lanka, making just 51 runs from six innings.
Neither man is an attractive option for India. But Australia have few other keeping choices, apart from Sam Whiteman. The 24-year-old from Western Australia is a fine technician behind the stumps and a generously gifted batsman, averaging 35 with the blade from 50 first-class matches.
But India is a hellish place for an Australian player to make their Test debut. Right now Australia is stuck with Wade. They have to hope he starts cashing the many cheques he writes with his mouth.