Wade knows finals secret
AS one of just five captains to have taken his side to Sheffield Shield glory on the road, Matthew Wade will urge his Tasmanian teammates to resist chasing a result early in this year’s final.
Wade skippered Victoria to the first two victories of its three-peat from 2014-15 to last summer, including toppling South Australia in Glenelg in 2015-16.
Since the five-day final was introduced in 1981-82, only six travelling teams have won, with former Australian Steve Waugh (2002-03 and 2004-05) the only leader to achieve the feat twice with NSW.
Now back in his home state after a decade away, Wade has more shield final experience than most, outside Tigers skipper George Bailey, and knows the secret to knocking off the host state is to avoid deviating from the plans that got Tasmania into the decider.
“It is always hard to win from second but Silky [Jordan Silk] touched on it, I think the Dukes ball will play a big role to make it a result game,” Wade said of the clash against Queensland.
“When we went into Glenelg when I was with Victoria, which was a really good win, we just wanted to play the same way we always played.
“I think if you get caught up in the result, you start doing things that haven’t got you there. We will have a look at the wicket and choose what we want to do.
“It is five days, it is a long time and the ball moves sideways, there is plenty of time in the game so you just do what you do best and hope you can win from there.”
Wade admitted it took him longer than he initially thought to adjust to life back in Tasmania, but since the Big Bash break he has flourished.
He has 392 runs at average of 49 with two centuries and one 50, providing the middleorder stability missing from previous campaigns. JACKSON Bird has finished joint runner-up in the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year award. Bird and SA’s Nick Winter polled 12 votes — Winter only made his first-class debut last month — one behind another bowler Chris Tremain, the competition’s leading wicket taker with 51.