Matthew Wade might miss out on Ashes spot, feels Michael Clarke

Former Aussie skipper Michael Clarke feels that it would be hard for Matthew Wade to fight his way back into the team now. Australia dropped the wicketkeeper for the third ODI in Indore following his poor returns with the bat and replaced him with Peter Handscomb to keep wickets. The youngster did a decent job behind the wickets and is also a better batsman than Wade. Clarke thinks that the regular Australian wicketkeeper is in danger of losing his Ashes spot as well.

The 29-year-old failed to post a double-figure score in his past five innings in One Day International cricket and past three outings in Tests. He failed in the Test series against Bangladesh last month as well and was about to be dropped for the second match. After the ODI series which they have already lost, Wade will return home to play for Tasmania. He will have three Sheffield Shield games to convince the selectors before the Ashes.

That is a big decision

Clarke, the cricketer turned commentator, said that it would be tough for Wade now make it to the Test team as well. He also termed the decision to drop as a big one with Handscomb not being the specialist keeper. “That’s a big decision from the Australian selectors. Because now I think it’s very hard for Matthew Wade to fight his way into that Test team as well,” he told the Indian broadcaster Star Sports.

The former cricketer also cleared that Wade might not get any further chance in the series as the selectors are likely to persist with Handscomb as the wicketkeeper. “He’s going to have to go back and play first-class cricket. I can’t see them selecting him for the next two ODIs,” Clarke added.

While Peter Handscomb didn’t set the stage on fire either as he made only three runs with the bat and dropped Rohit Sharma behind the stumps. But selectors might give him a couple more chances as the side will look to restore some pride in Bengaluru and Nagpur where the final two ODIs will be played.