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Joined February 2014
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Has any cricketer ever been allowed to fail as much as Shane Watson has? He should consider himself lucky he is playing in an…
If you were to ask someone who the best player in the AFL is, it's a pretty safe bet that they are going to…
I'll admit it, I've been one of Brad Haddin's biggest critics in recent years and when Matthew Wade debuted in the West Indies in…
An excerpt from former Geelong defender and three-time premiership player Matthew Scarlett's autobiography spread like wildfire through the sporting world last year, echoing the…
This is regarding your latest comment. I con’t reply to it for some reason. When I submitted this article last night, I named it ‘Don’t rest on your laurels, Brad’. The site’s admin changed the name. When I sat down to write it, it was meant to be a piece which focused on Brad Haddin’s career and the need for him to perform on a regular basis. I compared him to Matty Wade because I believe that he is not far behind Haddin in selection, and tried to write the article as though Wade was hot on his heels. At the end of the day, Wade is the second best wicketkeeper-batsman in the country according to the selectors. That can not be argued.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
Don’t get me wrong — I want Brad Haddin to do well. He’s no AB De villiers, but I hope he keeps performing at a high level.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
At the end of the day, regardless of what you and I say, according to the national selectors, he is the second best wicketkeeper-batsman in the country.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
That was a tongue-in-cheek comment. I believe that players should earn their spot in the side. If there were 11 Victorians in the side, I’d be happy. If there were none, I’d still be happy. I support the country over my state.
Peter Nevill doesn’t have age on his side, unfortunately. Same with Hartley and Paine.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
I’ve played and watched my fair share of cricket. As you’re an expert, please explain his technical deficiencies to me.
By the way, nice stumping by Wade last night to remove Bresnan, wasn’t it? Nice and clean.
When you have time, check out this dropped catch by Brad Haddin from last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8G6v5G_TCo
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
You’re saying that Handscomb, the guy who averages 30 with the bat and should replace the guy who has two Test centuries? Is that you, John Inverarity?
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
You mean ‘you’re’ entitled to your own opinion, right?
His first few series were underwhelming, and he only passed 20 three times in ten innings in the 2013 Ashes series. He has proven himself now, yes, but he has been hit or miss, rather like Marcus North was. But his future prospects kept him in the picture. Numerous former Australian cricketers have come out saying that Smith is a future captain, so you can’t say that that has no influence in his selection. Clarke’s 32 now, and he’s not going to play until he’s 39 like Ponting.
Wade’s First Class batting average is better than both Doolan’s and Marsh’s. He has the temperament to bat higher than number 7, which he does regularly for Victoria. But that’s not what we’re talking about.
I have seen Wade drop catches in Test cricket and I’ve seen Haddin drop catches in Test cricket. I’m not sure how much of the 2013 Ashes series that you saw, but Hadds dropped some sitters. It happens to all keepers. Wade’s short form keeping has been ordinary at times, but you can’t criticise his keeping in T20s as we’re talking about Test cricket.
When Haddin retires, do you want some like Tim Paine to take his spot? A good keeper, but a keeper who has only scored one First Class century in his career to take his spot? That’s one century in 69 matches.
Wade has 2 in 12 Tests.
Haddin has 4 in 54.
It’s also interesting to note that Wade has 3 stumpings in 12 tests and Haddin has 5 in 54.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
Do you follow First Class cricket? Handscomb and Wade have played alongside one another for a while now. And Wade keeps.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
When he was selected, Smith had more holes in his technique than a sieve. He has since improved, with Cricinfo’s Daniel Brettig labelling him as the most improved batsman in the country. He was given more chances than Quiney, Khawaja, Marsh, etc. because there was a possibility that, down the track, he could replace Clarke. Numerous cricket writers have written about this.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
Thank you. I can’t imagine that his knees would be in particularly good condition, but a year off from Test cricket (2012) may prolong his career.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
So you’re telling me that Steve Smith was selected purely because he was a great batsman and not because he had the potential to lead some day too?
I’m talking about the future, not bringing him into the team and making him vice-captain, anointing him as Michael Clarke’s successor.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
I’m Victorian. Does that explain anything?
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
Every player must perform regularly to earn their place in the side. Except for Shane Watson, it seems. The spotlight has been placed on everyone but Brad Haddin. In the past he has been reckless, throwing his wicket away on a number of occasions. I can remember him being caught at mid on many times when Australia were in trouble. Now that he has found form, he should not become complacent.
Another argument in Wade’s favour is the fact that he is now the captain of Victoria. If Australia is searching for its next captain, and Wade is captaining his state ahead of White and Hussey, why wouldn’t wade be second in line behind Haddin? Steve Smith seems to be CA’s next choice, but if his leadership skills don’t improve, Wade could be Clarke’s replacement. That’s my opinion anyway.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
Consistency across a number of series is what he needs. In five Test series following the 2010/11 Ashes series, Brad Haddin averaged 18.00, 19.00, 33.33, 28.66 and 25.50. Are they the scores of an in-form player?
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
As I said to another commenter, this article wasn’t meant to be about Wade. I ended up writing about him more than I intended, but only to highlight the fact that he is a contender for Haddin’s spot. I’m trying to highlight the fact that Haddin needs to continue to perform to warrant himself a place in the Test team. I believe that the statistics that I presented in this piece back my point up.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
Why are you asking Clarke to step up, though? Surely Watson is the one who needs to step up. He averages 21.66 against South Africa and 23.75 in South Africa. Clarke’s overall average of 70.33 against South Africa, with 4 hundreds in 11 tests, shows us that he can handle the swing of Steyn and Philander, but with that giant front pad of his, Watson could be in real trouble.
Time to step up, Pup
I agree, Dennis. Finch is nowhere as good as North yet, but their inability to perform consistently is similar.
Aaron Finch is the new Marcus North
And that’s what this article is about. I chose Wade as Haddin’s rival as he is obviously second in line, but this is about Haddin and the need for him to find some consistency. He needs to feel the pressure.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
As a Collingwood supporter, I am surprised and delighted that he’ll be staying until the end of 2016. He’s been my hero since the 2007 Semi Final against West Coast. I expect him to drop some weight off his frame this year to make running easier on his body. Go get ’em, Dane.
Dane Swan re-signs with Magpies
I respect your opinion. Regarding the insult, I didn’t want to get into an online argument, so I chose to report your comment.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
I think that Nadal’s 23-10 lead over Federer head-to-head is the only way to compare the two players.
Collingwood was the best team in the AFL by a long way in 2011. They lost to Geelong three times in the year — their only losses. But even though Collingwood won more matches than Geelong, Geelong beat them in the Grand Final, which means that history will remember them as the best team that year. I
f Nadal has beaten Federer more than Federer has beaten Nadal then does than not make Nadal the better player?
Who is the greater player - Federer or Nadal?
‘Just’ 3 hundreds in his last ten Tests? That’s brilliant. Out of all current players, Amla and Sangakkara are the only ones who score hundreds more frequently than Clarke. He scored 4 hundreds in 13 tests this year — only one less than in 2012 — and I think that’s pretty darn good.
Time to step up, Pup
TIm Paine has scored one FIrst Class century in his whole career.
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot
Gooner, I don’t understand you at all. It’s impossible to say that one keeper is definitely better than another. If there was a percentage of catches taken statistic, that would be ideal. If keeper A took 95% of the catches that came to him and keeper B only took 93%, you would be incontrovertibly correct in saying that keeper A is the better keeper, but as there is no such statistic, it is impossible to be definitive.
You could argue that whoever average the most catches per game is the best keeper, but we all know that keepers can only take catches when bowlers get batsmen to edge the ball. And if you based your answer on catches alone, then Mark Boucher would be the best wicketkeeper-batsman of all time — but we all know that that’s not true.
As for Matt’s father, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m from Victoria, and most occurrences in Tasmania don’t make the news here (no offence meant).
Great series Brad, but Matt Wade still wants your spot