I'm still the man for the job: Wade

Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade is confident he can produce the runs needed to hold his spot in Australia’s Test team and declared "I'm still the man for the job".

Wade, recalled last summer when Peter Nevill was one of five players axed from a side that was roundly thrashed by South Africa in Hobart, has scored 236 runs at 20.23 in 10 Tests since.

Wade says his slow start with the bat to his second coming as Australia's Test wicketkeeper can be attributed to a focus on white-ball cricket before his recall.

"When I got back into the Test team in the summer I'd put a lot of work into my one-day cricket and it took a little bit of time to get going again (against the red ball)," Wade told Jim Maxwell on ABC Grandstand.

"I played a lot of one-day cricket before my recall to the Test team and I changed a few things technically to be more effective in one-day cricket so it took me a little bit of time to work through those."

After scoring 50 runs in four Tests against South Africa and Pakistan at home, Wade was then Australia's third leading run scorer behind captain Steve Smith and Ranchi centurion Glenn Maxwell on the Qantas Tour of India, scoring 196 at 32.66 in four Tests.

And while he missed out with the bat in two Tests in Bangladesh, he points to nine first-class hundreds, including two at Test level, in 110 matches and confidently declared: "I can bat, don't worry about that".

"I don't feel out of form as such. Yeah, I haven't scored the big runs that I know I can do but I still feel like I contributed, especially in India, and the stuff I do around the team is important," Wade said.

"I don't feel like it's a crisis, I still feel like I'm hitting the ball well, you've just got to make runs, that's the aim of the game, and I'm confident in my batting.

"My keeping was always the question mark and people have asked about that for a long period of time, now it seems to have moved to my batting. So it's to-and-fro a little bit and I need to get both sides of my game working at the same time."

While much was been made of Wade's "presence" in his recall over Nevill, the incumbent Test keeper said he knew performances with the bat counted for much more.

"First and foremost I need to be performing and scoring runs and keeping well at the same time and I'm confident that I can do that. But I suppose, yeah, I bring something different to the group," Wade said.

"I think it's effective, I feel like when the chips are down I can find a way to build us back up towards where we need to go.

"I've learnt over the years to get a little bit smarter with it. I was loud and aggressive five or six years ago, but I think the older I've got I've got a little more clever about the way I go about it.

"It's not aggressive and bad language straight in people's faces, just clever little chips at people to try and get them to do something they don't want to do, ultimately get them thinking about something completely different to what they need to be thinking about.

"It's trying to get a one per cent edge on the opposition and if you can get that we're half a chance to get a wicket."

Wade has moved back to his native Tasmania this summer and scored 46 and a whirlwind 16-ball 39 – including three consecutive sixes – in two JLT One-Day Cup games (Nevill has 76 runs from four innings where he's faced a ball).

Both will have the chance to press their case in three rounds of the JLT Sheffield Shield before the first Magellan Ashes Test at the Gabba from November 23.

And although the focus is on his batting he believes his keeping has "improved drastically from the first time I played" Test cricket.

"I had a lot of technical flaws towards the back end of my stint as an Australia keeper that first time (but now) I feel really confident in my keeping," he said.

"There's always people coming for you when you're playing at the top level for Australia. But I feel like over a long period of time I've shown I can bat and the keeping was always the issue.

"I feel like I'm keeping better than ever so if you put the two together I still feel like I'm the man for the job.

"That's for the selectors to decide but I feel over a 10-year career I've put plenty of runs on the board and can play at Test level.

"I've scored two Test hundreds, scored a one-day hundred. I can bat, don't worry about that."

Wicketkeeper contenders

Matthew Wade
Age 29 State Tasmania

Tests: 22 | Runs: 886 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 4 | Ave: 28.58| HS: 106 | Catch: 63 | Stump: 11

First-class: 110 | Runs: 5186 | 100s: 9 | 50s: 32 | Ave: 37.57 | HS: 152 | Catch: 364 | Stump: 21

Peter Nevill
Age 32 State NSW

Tests: 17 | Runs: 468 | 100s: 0 | 50s: 3 | Ave: 22.28 | HS: 66 | Catch: 61 | Stump: 2

First-class: 86 | Runs: 4264 | 100s: 9 | 50s: 21 | Ave: 40.22 | HS: 235* | Catch: 264 | Stump: 15

Sheffield Shield fielding, from 2011-12

Image Id: 58F238D8E1E845F1A45B2C7E6985AA94

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

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Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Buy tickets

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Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

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Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21