Move on from Wade drama

Focus on finals now says coach

HIS captain might be chalking up the runs at will, but Hurricanes coach Adam Griffith says it’s time to move on from discussing Matthew Wade’s national omission.

Wade was man of the match on Thursday as the Hurricanes secured top spot and a home semi-final next Thursday in Hobart with a win over the Renegades, but his run glut has not been enough to force his way into either Australian Test or one-day international squads. Griffith said it was out of their hands and backed the selectors.

“Obviously we are disappointed for Matthew that he’s not being selected,” Griffith said. “I believe he’s the form batter in the country at the moment. It has probably got to a stage now where for all of us we want to see the Australian team go well, our job is to prepare our players the best we can and then if they want to pick them, they pick them.

“There has been enough written and said about it, I think we are at the stage now that our job is to support them has much as we can.

“Who are we to second guess a group of people who are in and around it every day. It is the same with our team, people second guess with our selections.”

The Hurricanes tonight face the Sydney Thunder knowing top spot is locked in.

All-rounder James Faulkner will stay in Hobart to rest his sore knee, but Simon Milenko made the trip after injuring his shoulder in the field the previous night. Afghan legspinner Qais Ahmad made an impressive debut taking 2-34 from his four overs.

“He’s got a lot of energy, he runs around hard in the field, he attacks the ball and he’s got some different deliveries that suit our conditions here,” Griffith said. “One that skids on and he turns his leg-spinner.”

The coach also backed young speedster Riley Meredith, who had a shocker on return from injury. His first over back, the first of the Renegades’ innings, he conceded 23 runs and sent down three noballs and another delivery that went for five wides.

“He was crook last week, he didn’t train a lot this week, he probably wasn’t quite where he needed to be mentally for the game perhaps,” he said. “It is just an unbelievable experience for him to learn from in a game that we still won.

“We backed him in, he’s been outstanding for us this year and a spectacular talent we’ve got coming through. I’m really excited to see what he does now for the next couple of games. I think we’ll see a really good Riley Meredith.”