Matthew Wade: 'When you go in feeling like every tournament is your last, it's funny how open-minded it makes you'
The Australia wicketkeeper-batter talks about finding a second wind as a finisher, even as the end of his international career looms

Once more with feeling: Wade is hoping to reprise his star turn as finisher this T20 World Cup • Getty Images
We'll wait and see. I'm just excited to be able to play a home World Cup so late in my international career. I'm not really thinking too far forward now - every tournament in the last couple of years has felt like it could potentially be my last - so if that's the case with this one, all good, if not, we'll see what happens.
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Yeah, probably. I was opening the batting for a few years for Hobart [Hurricanes] then came back into the T20 team and opened in a few games when Finchy [Aaron Finch] and Davey [David Warner] weren't available, so it felt like I was probably a top-order player. Then the last 18 months it's kind of swung around quite quickly - I've gone down the order and really enjoyed it. It was probably something I needed later on in my career, a different challenge. Partnering up with Stoin [Marcus Stoinis] down there has been huge, and now I've got Tim David as well, who I've played a lot of cricket with. We are starting to get some good camaraderie there - playing together quite consistently is helping that. I've enjoyed the last 12-18 months in a different role and watching some guys grow around me as well.
It was probably the West Indies tour, where I batted down there in a couple of games, and then Bangladesh. You'll see it more and more: for experienced players that have had quite a lot of international cricket, it's probably a little easier to go down and try and establish a different role in the team. You've already played enough games and you aren't so worried about the misses you are going to have down the order.
I probably don't map it out as much. I know Stoin certainly maps it out, and Tim David - I've batted with him a few times - maps it out with how many sixes we may need to break down the run chase. I'm more... whatever the situation of the game I just need 100% commitment to what I'm doing, whether we are looking to go hard, or we are going to absorb a little bit of pressure or target this guy. As long as I have a pretty clear understanding and commit fully to what I'm trying to do, I'm usually pretty good. I'm not a big scoreboard watcher, although you know roundabout what you need. The other guys break it down a little more.
I certainly train for lower-order hitting and am trying to develop a new shot every 12 months. I lap behind the wicket, I'm working on trying to do it the other way - go over the off side behind the wicket. They [oppositions] change the field, they change tactics pretty much every time you come up against a different team. So I'm trying to add to my game, which is something you don't have to do quite so much at the top of the order; you can just bank on watching the ball and hitting it. You only have to clear the infield and you can get away with it a little. Over the last 12 months I've had to develop some different scoring options and I'll keep looking to do that.
The most obvious thing is the tremendous amount of power he brings to the table. But he's not an out-and-out walk-out-and-hit-everything-for-six kind of player, he's got really good game smarts as well. We saw that against West Indies. He can bat normally and soak a bit of pressure up, then back his power.
Yeah, it is. I think it's something that can happen more regularly, to be honest. A lot of players generally start at the top of the order and if you can face a swinging ball and a ball that nips around, then you can adapt anywhere in the order. You've got to have an open mind. A lot of players like to be in the one position and that's it, but to be very adaptable is something I'm proud of and happy to do. Can certainly see a lot more players now working their way up and down the order.
When I had my first daughter is probably when my life changed a lot, as everyone who has had a family knows. So I'm a lot more relaxed, cricket isn't the be-all and end-all. If it doesn't work out, I go home and thankfully I've got life sorted away from the cricket ground, which makes it a lot easier to turn up every day and enjoy what you are doing.
Absolutely. Once I gave up wicketkeeping in the longer formats, that was something that really relaxed my mind. I found the game a lot shorter and it was a lot easier to find time to switch off, which in turn makes you a lot fresher throughout the whole summer. At times I wish I knew to relax a little, but unfortunately, you have to go through all that - Stoinis talks about the scar tissue you've got to build as a player. A young player, or any player, is going to fail more than they succeed, and it's understanding how to learn from that and not take it too personally.
We have been playing a lot. It feels like we've been in a bit of a grind. And we haven't had all the boys back, which is similar to the last World Cup. We've chopped and changed, so it's only really been the last game or so that we've started to settle down on the line-up, which is something we are familiar with. Last time we weren't sure until we got there basically. It's really important to take a lot of the pressure off. There will be a lot of external expectations, but you've got to have a lot of things go right and be peaking at the right times. Feels like we have the team to put us in positions to win games, it's just, we've got to take those moments. We want to make sure we are keeping it fun and relaxed. All you can do in T20 is really back your skill set. Some days it will work, some it won't.
I really don't know at the moment. I'm contracted with Tassie for another 12 months after this. I'll probably get to the end of this season and sit down to work out what it really looks like. I still really enjoy playing Shield cricket. I'd love to win another Shield, but I'll think about it towards the back end of the BBL. I've got a young family and have travelled for a long period of time now.
Nah, not at all. I've been playing for 15 years and I never thought I'd get ten Shield games, let alone play as much as I have. When you are in the grind you don't really look back on it and it's something I'm trying not to do at the moment, but I'll take my career and run with it.
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo