{"id":12532,"date":"2020-12-21T21:41:37","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T22:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=12532"},"modified":"2020-12-22T02:58:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T02:58:40","slug":"death-warrant-shifts-to-rival-test-batsman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=12532","title":{"rendered":"'Death warrant' shifts to rival Test batsman"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Test selection call is looming between Matthew Wade<\/a> and Travis Head. As it stands, Wade should be retained and Head dropped.<\/p>\n

That's the call from Australian greats Brad Haddin and Mike Hussey, though both Wade and Head are set to play the Boxing Day Test, with David Warner not yet fit.<\/p>\n

Wade opened the batting with Joe Burns in the first Test, in the absence of Warner (groin) and also touted debutant Will Pucovski (concussion). It was a selfless move and one that Haddin believes Head could not have handled.<\/p>\n

"I think Matthew Wade was the obvious choice to open the batting. I don't think there was any other choice," Haddin told The Follow-On<\/em> podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

"To be honest, the only reason he (Wade) went up the top is because Travis Head's at No.5 but technically he wouldn't be able to stand up to the new ball.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I think it's hard to leave Matthew Wade out. What he did, that was the first time he's opened the batting in any form of first class cricket, so to do that, it shows great character and it shows he'll do whatever he can to be part of this Australian team.<\/p>\n

"Travis Head, I still think he's developing. He got a hundred last Boxing Day they played, got a couple of good hundreds in Shield cricket. He'd be disappointed with the way he got out, I think, in the first Test.<\/p>\n

"I would find a spot, a way, to keep Matthew Wade in the team."<\/p>\n

Former Australian all-rounder Simon O'Donnell on Monday claimed that Wade had "signed his own death warrant"<\/a> by agreeing to open, as he'd likely be replaced in the side by Warner. Instead, he may return to the middle-order at Head's expense.<\/p>\n

Hussey believes that young all-rounder Cameron Green, Warner's replacement for the Adelaide Test, will remain in the team. That's where the squeeze on batting positions may be created and Hussey would also stick with Wade; who scored two centuries on last year's Ashes tour, while Head was dropped for the final match.<\/p>\n

"I think they will persevere and keep Cameron Green in the side because of that balance that he offers," Hussey said.<\/p>\n

"I think it comes down to who they prefer more, Wade or Travis Head, in the next Test match. I'm not sure which way I'd go, it's a tough call. Head was vice-captain last year.<\/p>\n

"If I had to make a call and I had to get off the fence, I'd probably lean towards Matthew Wade staying."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Head made a century against New Zealand in last year's Boxing Day Test, while Wade had a lean summer. Neither made runs in Adelaide against India, though Wade looked good for 33 in the second innings before copping a freakish run-out.<\/p>\n

"I thought Matty Wade actually looked pretty good out there, particularly in the second innings," Hussey said.<\/p>\n

"He looked pretty confident and he was a bit unlucky to get out the way he did. He's the sort of guy, he's got a great character; he's not going to shy away from any situation.<\/p>\n

"It's a tough one for him, being asked to do that job, because I guess they're desperately keen to get Cameron Green into the team, so Matthew Wade's in a bit of an awkward situation.<\/p>\n

"Does he say, 'No, I don't want to go up the order, I'll stay where I am' … but if he doesn't go up, then he might lose his place out to Cameron Green anyway. If he does go up and then Warner comes back, with Joe Burns getting a few runs, then he might lose his place anyway.<\/p>\n

"He's in an awkward position but I thought he handled himself really well. He's got a good technique, he's got great fighting qualities, good character, he's well-liked around the team now as well.<\/p>\n

"There's obviously going to be a lot of talk now when Warner comes back, is he going to be able to keep his place in the team or will be move back down the order. We're not sure."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wade said that he jumped at the chance to open, which was no surprise to Haddin, regardless of the potential selection consequences.<\/p>\n

"It's going to be an interesting one when he (Warner) comes back because Matthew Wade's done everything right and he went up to open the batting because he was the only option left in that team, there was no one left to do it," Haddin said.<\/p>\n

"That's just the bit of his character at the moment, he's just one of those guys that he's brought a lot since he's been back into the team. He's got two Ashes hundreds last campaign, so he's got some fight in him.<\/p>\n

"You watch him in the field, he puts in every ball. He'll jump into bat-pad. He's a guy at the moment that everyone wants to play with and he wouldn't have thought twice [about opening]; as soon as they said to him, he said, 'Yeah, I'll do it'.<\/p>\n

"We wouldn't have thought twice about that, he wouldn't have worried about what it looks like down the track. From my point of view, he was the only one that could do it and I think from a selection point of view, David Warner does come [back], it might come down to Head and Matthew Wade."<\/p>\n

Of course, big runs in the second Test could swing the battle in one man's favour. Wade made 38 and 30 not out against New Zealand last year at the MCG, while Head scored 114 and 28, batting at No.5 and No.6 respectively.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Test selection call is looming between Matthew Wade and Travis Head. As it stands, Wade should be retained and Head dropped. That's the call […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12532"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12532"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12534,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12532\/revisions\/12534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}