Matthew Scott Wade (born 26 December 1987) is an Australian cricketer, who has represented the Australian national team as wicketkeeper in all three forms of international cricket (Test, One-Day International and Twenty20 International). He plays domestic first class and List A cricket for the Victoria Bushrangers, and domestic Twenty20 cricket for the Melbourne Renegades.
Wade was born in Hobart on 26 December 1987. He is the son of Scott Wade, an Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL), for Clarence and Hobart in the Tasmanian Football League (TFL), and served a long tenure as CEO of AFL Tasmania. His grandfather, Michael Wade, served as president of the Hobart Football Club. Wade is the cousin of Collingwood Football Club defender Jeremy Howe. Wade represented Tasmania in underage cricket and underage football, vice-captaining the Tassie Mariners in the TAC Cup, where he played alongside future Australian Football League players Sam Lonergan, Grant Birchall and Jack Riewoldt. He representing Australia at the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. At the age of 16, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and received two rounds of chemotherapy before he was cleared of the disease. He is color blind.
Originally from Hobart, Tasmania, Wade played both cricket and Australian rules football until the age of 19, participating in the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup as well as playing underage football for the Tassie Mariners in the TAC Cup. After representing Tasmania in one List A match, he moved to Victoria for the 2007–08 season to further his opportunities. He soon established himself as Victoria's first-choice wicket-keeper, and was selected in the Australia A side in 2010, and made his debut for Australia the following season.
