Australian selection boss Trevor Hohns has revealed what Tasmanian Matthew Wade might have to do to get back into test consideration.
Wade has scored more runs than anybody at Sheffield Shield level this season, making 571 runs at an average of 63.44.
However, Hohns believes the 31-year-old needs to bat higher in the order for Tasmania to be in the mix.
“With Wade, it’s fantastic that he’s scoring a lot of runs. It wasn’t long ago he was in our test squad and he struggled and we obviously dropped him at that stage,” Hohns said.
“He’s playing as a wicketkeeper batsman for Tasmania and it just so happens we have a wicketkeeper batsman in our test side in Tim Paine.
“If Matthew wants to be considered as a straight-out batsman, it’d be nice to see him batting higher up the order for Tasmania and that conversation has been had.”
In a similar boat is Glenn Maxwell who has also been in strong Sheffield Shield form.
Hohns said they want the Melbourne Stars captain focusing on the upcoming World Cup.
“Glenn hasn’t played test cricket for us for a while and right here and now we are wanting him to focus on white-ball cricket with the World Cup coming up,” he said.
“We’ve had several conversations with Glenn about this and he makes it very clear he would like to play test cricket for Australia.
“He is trying to improve himself and give himself the best opportunity leading into the Ashes so all credit to him for that.”
FULL AUSTRALIAN SQUAD REVEALED
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