“He was going to play”: Aaron Finch confirms Matthew Wade would’ve played Australia vs England Super 12 match at the MCG

Aaron Finch confirms Matthew Wade: The Australian captain provided an important illness update for one of their players.

Shame is the first word which comes to mind to describe an absolute bummer of a day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where two consecutive ICC T20 World Cup 2022 matches have been washed out due to rain.

The development means that a total of four Super 12 matches have now been abandoned without a ball being bowled. The nature of the beast with respect to an elongated rainy season in Australia is such that it has severely affected the points table dynamics.

Other than just the opportunity for players of both the teams to win a couple of points, an Australia-England T20I also had the potential of becoming an archetype spectacle for fans across the globe.

Aaron Finch confirms Matthew Wade would’ve played Australia vs England Super 12 match at the MCG

In what is his home ground in domestic cricket, Australia captain Aaron Finch opined around never watching the MCG as wet as tonight. Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Finch explained that several patches on the ground were wet to the extent that it was unfit for players to engage in any sort of match.

In addition to the ground, weather and Australia needing to win their remaining two matches of this round in order to qualify for the semi-finals, Finch also provided an illness update regarding wicket-keeper batter Matthew Wade. Australia’s solitary specialist wicket-keeper in this squad, Wade had returned a positive COVID-19 test after Sri Lanka clash in Perth.

“He was going to play. Tucked away in the changing room by himself. Probably inevitable it was going to happen. He had a few symptoms but was good to go,” Finch told the broadcaster during the post-match presentation ceremony.

Had Wade not played the recently abandoned match against England, all-rounder Glenn Maxwell appeared as the likeliest of candidates to keep wickets for the hosts. The 34-year old player had even started practicing performing the role during the training session on the eve of the match.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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