Matthew Wade eyes a return to Tasmania

Victoria could be set to lose their captain for next summer, with Matthew Wade likely to return home to Tasmania after a decade in Melbourne.

Wade was born and raised in Tasmania and played a single match for the state at the age of 19, back in February 2007, before moving to Victoria later that year to further his chances of playing state cricket. At the time, Wade viewed himself as third in line for Tasmania's wicketkeeping duties, behind Sean Clingeleffer and Tim Paine.

His career with Victoria led to selection for Australia in all three formats, and he is currently the incumbent Test and ODI wicketkeeper. Wade has also captained Victoria to two Sheffield Shield titles in the past two years, having previously played in two other triumphant Shield finals for the Bushrangers under Cameron White's leadership.

Tasmania have struggled to settle on a wicketkeeper in recent times with Paine having been used in the Matador Cup this summer and both Jake Doran and Tom Triffitt taking the gloves in the Sheffield Shield over the past year. Although Wade could miss large chunks of the domestic season if he remains Australia's preferred wicketkeeper, he is keen to move to Tasmania having become a father last year.

"Having Winter [my daughter] for 11 months now and being on the road almost full time has probably fast-tracked when I thought I was potentially going to be moving down," Wade told Hobart's Mercury newspaper. "I've had some contact with Tassie and hopefully we can a deal done. It is purely family-based for sure.

"To be honest, everyone I've spoken to has been really good. They've understood the situation, they understand how much I'm away and the opportunity to get home and have family to give us a bit of a help out is obviously really attractive for us.

"It gives me a good opportunity to come into a different environment and a different team. Where I'm at in my career, it will be a good thing. It will freshen me up as well and make me get the best out of myself and obviously I'd love to see the Tassie Tigers improve and get better year by year."

Andrew Dykes, the general manager of cricket with Cricket Tasmania, said: "Matt is very keen to relocate back to Tasmania for family reasons, so we will continue ongoing discussions with him in the coming months.

"Due to the ongoing Australian Cricket Association and CA memorandum of understanding negotiations, we are unable to progress any further with state contract negotiations. Cricket Victoria and Cricket Australia are aware of the discussions."