Matthew Wade first became part of Australia's wicketkeeping options alongside Brad Haddin and Tim Paine when he was picked for T20s against South Africa in 2011. However, Wade's big break came when Haddin was forced to miss the 2012 Test series in the West Indies due to personal reasons. Wade grabbed the chance, scoring 106 in the third Test and dominating the bowling on a pitch where most of the other batsmen struggled to score quickly. He made another Test century against Sri Lanka and appeared to have taken Haddin's place permanently.

But the "homeworkgate" incident on the 2013 India tour claimed Wade as an unexpected victim when the need for Haddin's leadership saw him return. Wade then lost his place in the Test wicketkeeping queue behind Peter Nevill, who replaced Haddin in the 2015 Ashes series, but became the full-time ODI wicketkeeper after the 2015 World Cup. Wade got another chance when Australia rejuvenated the Test side following the 2016 loss to South Africa in Hobart with his feisty competitiveness a major reason for his recall. But runs alluded him and the need for a superior gloveman saw Paine take the role ahead of the 2017-18 Ashes series. He also lost his ODI place to Paine and later fell behind Alex Carey.

Wade moved from Victoria back to Tasmania and dominated state cricket for two seasons forcing many to call for his return to international cricket as a specialist batsman. In 2018-19 he made 1800 domestic runs in all formats but was controversially overlooked for Test selection because he was "batting too low for Tasmania" according to chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns. Wade, who had taken over as captain of Tasmania, moved himself to No.4 in Shield cricket and continued to dominate passing 1000 Shield runs for the season to get himself selected on the Australia A tours of England in 2019.

Wade is known for his grit and determination, but the fact that he played any international cricket at all is a credit to his mental toughness: when only 16, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and required two cycles of chemotherapy to defeat the illness. Then, at 19, he made another crucial move, from Hobart to Melbourne, when he realised he would be stuck behind his childhood mate Paine in the Tasmanian wicketkeeping queue. Victoria immediately gave him a chance, and he grabbed it, making 83 and pouching six catches on his first-class debut. In 2008-09 he compiled a Victorian record 57 Sheffield Shield dismissals. That summer he also stood up in the decider, scoring 70. He would later become a Sheffield Shield-winning captain for Victoria leading them to two of their hat-trick of titles between 2015 and 2017.

Wade was a talented junior footballer - his father Scott played in the VFL for Hawthorn - but at 170cm decided he was too short to make a career out of it and pursued cricket instead.
ESPNcricinfo staff