Aus should not go NZ way: Wade
MUMBAI: Discarded wicketkeeperbatsman Matthew Wade has stoked a controversy of sorts by claiming that Australia should not ‘go too far the other way’, as they may lose their drive if they try and play like New Zealand.
Australia were hit by a string of controversies during their last Test assignment in South Africa, which saw players not only being fined and reprimanded for their on-field conduct, but three of their top players were banned for a year for tampering the ball in the final Test at Cape Town.
Australia captain Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner and rookie opener Cameron Bancroft were all handed one-year bans by Cricket Australia (CA) for stoking the ball-tampering controversy. Wade, who was brought into the Test side in end 2016 for bringing in competitiveness and strong verbal support to the bowlers in place of Peter Nevill.
“When I got back into the team (after five straight losses in 2016), there was a lot of media and public stir about how they wanted the team to have a crack through that period. They felt like we were rolling over a little bit,” Wade was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au,
“I hope now we don’t go too far the other way and lose all our drive … and try and play like New Zealand. Every team needs a bit of competitiveness on the field. What happened in South Africa wasn’t a good look. But I just think we need to be careful about what direction we go in from here.”