Australian wicketkeeping great Ian Healy has suggested Matthew Wade was disrespected by the national selectors, leaving his Ashes hopes in peril.
Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns faces at least two intriguing decisions heading into next month's blue-chip campaign against England, with one being who should take the gloves.
![Selection dilemma: Peter Nevill is the technically better keeper, according to Ian Healy.](http://web.archive.org./web/20171024164509im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/z/5/l/o/0/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gz65k0.png/1508748779083.jpg)
Wade, 29, is the incumbent, but he has failed to deliver with the bat since replacing Peter Nevill, 32, after the debacle in Hobart against South Africa last summer.
That Wade was dropped for part-timer Peter Handscomb for a one-day match against India in Indore last month, only to return for the next game in Bengaluru, has prompted Healy to suggest Nevill could return for the Ashes opener in Brisbane.
![Failed to deliver: Matthew Wade is not batting "the way he can".](http://web.archive.org./web/20171024164509im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/y/9/u/w/x/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gz65k0.png/1508748779083.jpg)
"On the weekend, both 'Wadey' and Peter Nevill made hundreds [in grade cricket], so it's a great thing to see. They are the two, I reckon," Healy said on Monday.
"They [selectors] disrespected Wadey a little bit in India, dropping him for a one-day game then bringing him back. That's not the respect you think a keeper that is going to be in the Ashes deserves. I sense that they might be going back to Nevill."
Wade finished with only 34 runs at 11.3 in four innings in Australia's losing one-day series in India.
Cricket Australia did not wish to comment when contacted on Monday.
In his return to Tasmanian club cricket on Saturday, Wade, the pugnacious left-hander, thumped 111 for Clarence on Saturday, while Nevill made an unbeaten 130 for Eastern Suburbs in Sydney.
Their bid for Test selection intensifies this week in the opening round of the Sheffield Shield. Tasmania will travel to the WACA to face the Warriors from Thursday, while the Blues head to South Australia to face the Redbacks from Friday.
Healy said Nevill was the better keeper technically, but for a change to be made the selectors would have to admit they had initially made a mistake.
"To do that they are going to have to admit a mistake a year ago and that's an agenda. It was a different set of selectors. Will they be strong enough to go back on that? Yeah, probably," he said on SEN.
They [selectors] disrespected Wadey a little bit in India, dropping him for a one-day game then bringing him back, that's not the respect you think a keeper that is going to be in the Ashes deserves. I sense that they might be going back to Nevill.
- Test great Ian Healy on the wicketkeeping debate
"I just think Peter Nevill has a better grasp on the technical aspects of wicketkeeping. For some reason, he got dropped a year ago, now Matthew Wade has been on the improve, having had a better Test in Bangladesh [but is] still not batting the way he can. He is improving but now we are going to drop him. That's the dilemma and agendas that you need to be aware of going on in there."
Nevill made 468 runs at 22.28 in 17 Tests but was unable to rubber-stamp his role with a ton. That he was not regarded as boisterous enough behind the stumps also hurt his hopes.
Wade has 886 runs at 28.58 in 22 Tests but, while a more visibly vocal character, has a modest 263 runs at 20.23 since his return, passing 50 only once in 16 innings. He had 17 runs in three Test innings against Bangladesh in August and 196 at 32.22 in four Tests in India earlier this year.
South Australian gloveman Alex Carey, chosen for the aborted Australia A tour of South Africa this year, is also in the running for Test selection, while Healy said Queenslander Jimmy Peirson also had much to play for.
Healy, who managed 4356 runs at 27.39 in 119 Tests, said the issue was that Adam Gilchrist's large shadow continued to hover over wicketkeeping selection.
Gilchrist (5570 runs at 47.6, 17 tons) revolutionised the role through his brutal and match-winning batting. He was a true all-rounder who could easily have featured up the order.
His successor Brad Haddin (3266 runs at 32.98) was also able to turn games, albeit with less frequency, as he did in the last Ashes series at home. But Nevill and Wade have been unable to replicate that.
"Times have changed. We haven't quite got it right. 'Gilly' averaged well into the 40s, that's the pressure every keeper after that [is under]," Healy said.
"Thirty is what you need. Someone to average 30, make handy runs when we absolutely need them and make sure your top six do their job. The quandary we have got at the moment is we do not know our No.6, we have a brand new No.2 [Matt Renshaw] and Handscomb, a brand new No.5 and [Usman]Khawaja has been in and out, in and out.
"The disruptions to the top order is putting a whole heap of pressure on the wicketkeeping-side of selection and it shouldn't. The wicketkeeper needs to be that person who can average 30. They don't have to average 45 like Gilly."