Somerset sign Wade for seven county championship games

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Somerset sign Wade for seven county championship games

Wade has so far played 30 Tests for Australia scoring four hundreds. © BCCI

Somerset have signed Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade for the opening seven County Championship games subject to the Club obtaining the No Objection Certificate and the appropriate visa. Wade recently forced himself back into the Test team on the back of some excellent performances in red-ball cricket and is now regularly featuring as a specialist batsman.

The 31-year-old has so far played 30 Tests for Australia scoring four hundreds. Two of those centuries came earlier this year in the Ashes that Australia retained. He was Australia's third highest run getter with 337 runs in the hard-fought series. He has an excellent first-class record having scored more than 7000 runs at an average of almost 41.

"It's an exciting challenge and one that I'm looking forward to," Wade said after signing. "I got a good taste of English conditions last summer and it'll be good to come back over and to hopefully contribute to Somerset winning matches in the County Championship.

"Somerset have got an excellent squad and I'm looking forward to meeting up with the guys and to getting out on the pitch with them. I'm told that Somerset have a bit of a history of Australian players doing well for the Club, so hopefully I can add my name to that list."

Wade's leadership qualities played a huge role in the signing, according to Somerset Director of Cricket, Andy Hurry. "You want your overseas to be a world class performer, but you also need to look at what they will bring off the field," Hurry said. "You want someone who is a leader on the pitch and someone who buys in to the Club ethos. Matthew Wade will tick every single box.

"He is a world class performer, he is extremely driven and he is a leader. He has vast experience and has captained Tasmania as well as leading Victoria to two Sheffield Shields. He was outstanding for Australia this summer with the bat and his record speaks for itself. We are delighted to have secured a player of his calibre for our opening seven County Championship matches of 2020."

Somerset's first game of the season will be against Warwickshire at the Cooper Associates County Ground in April. The club will start the season with a 12-point deduction after being found guilty of breaching pitch regulations in September this year against Essex. They drew that game that helped them clinch the title.