Australia to field weak XI vs Scotland to eliminate England from T20 WC? Matthew Wade reveals amid match-fixing claims

Australia vice-captain Matthew Wade sounded uncertain when talking about players who can possibly sit out when the Aussies play their final Group B game. 

Australia are among the 6 teams, as of now, who have qualified for the next stage of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 - the Super 8s. This will be their first appearance in the second round of the T20 WC since the 2021 edition when they had become first-time T20 World Champions. They were led by Aaron Finch back then and now the onus is on Mitchell Marsh and Andrew McDonald's pairing. 

But quite a lot will also depend upon wicket-keeper batsman and vice-skipper Matthew Wade's performance. He was monumental in Australia's charge to the 2021 T20 World title and if it wasn't for him in the semi-final against Pakistan, the Kangaroos would not have even reached the finale.  

Matthew Wade had smashed 41* in the semi-final and something similar will be expected from him when the Aussies find themselves in a similar situation. 

Matthew Wade hints that Cameron Green and Ashton Agar could be included against Scotland 

In a recent interview, Matthew Wade was asked if the Aussie combination will be kept the same in their final Group B match against Scotland on June 16. Wade claimed that there is a potential talk about a change to give some of the players a few off days and include some players who will have a role to play later on in the tournament. 

Matthew Wade named all-rounder Cameron Green and left-arm off-spinner Ashton Agar as the ones who can feature against Scotland in St. Lucia. Although nothing can be assured, Wade said that these are changes that can be implemented. 

"Potentially. No, I'm not sure on the 11 whether or not some guys will have a rest. We haven't been in this position before, so I'm sure it'll be spoken about to maybe get some games into the guys that potentially might play down the road Green and Agar those guys may play a role as the tournament goes on so yeah, I'm sure to be spoken about whether or not the guys pull the trigger and go for it, I'm not sure, but we'll wait and see tomorrow I suppose," Wade said. 

Wade reveals the atmosphere in Aussie dressing 

As we all know, the Australian team are aiming to complete a historic treble of ICC trophies in the space of less than a year. In 2023, the Aussies captured two international titles - the World Test Championship and the Cricket World Cup title for the 6th time. 

And with a new year, Australia have their eyes on a new prize and that is the T20 World Cup. Their bid to complete a treble will require the dressing room to be in sync and Matthew Wade has admitted that the team's mood is exactly how it should be. 

"Yeah, we're having a good time. We're like, this environment now is, we're not a result driven team, we're more about the process and going away, going about it the way that we want to play in big tournaments and that's what we're doing, that's the pleasing thing," Matthew Wade concluded.