“Sports became a real outlet for me” - Emotional Matthew Wade opens up on battle with testicular cancer at 16 

Australia’s wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade has opened up about the tough times he faced after being diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 16. The 33-year-old stated that the support of his teammates and playing cricket helped him overcome the challenging times.

Wade was one of the unexpected heroes of Australia’s T20 World Cup 2021 triumph. Coming into bat under tense circumstances in the semi-final against Pakistan in Dubai, he clobbered an unbeaten 41 off 17 to lift Australia into the final. Wade famously hit Shaheen Afridi for three consecutive sixes to seal victory for the Aussies.

In a heartwarming interaction with cricket.com.au, Wade opened up about another tense battle he had to fight off the field during his teenage days. Recalling the time he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, Wade said:

“When I was 16, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. That was a big part of my life, but I was lucky that I had good mates in sporting teams, older people in sporting teams that really got me out of the house, and got me back in training. Sports became a real outlet for me through that period of time.”

Overcoming unpredictable times, Wade went on to make his debut for Australia in a T20I in 2011 in Cape Town. In and out the side over the last decade, the wicketkeeper-batter has, so far, featured in 36 Tests, 97 ODIs and 55 T20Is.

---

“It was probably harder on my family” - Matthew Wade on battling cancer

While admitting that the fight with testicular cancer was a massive challenge, Wade added that things were much tougher for his family.

The aggressive batter explained:

“It was a challenging time but sport pushed me through the other side. It was probably harder on my family. I was a lot younger and didn’t probably understand what was going on too much. It was just kind of ‘do this and do that’ to get it better. It probably took a hit on him family more than it took on me.”

Wade’s father Scott revealed that the cricketer had to deal with stuff like hair falling out of his cap while he was fighting cancer. The left-hander’s father said:

“Matthew got unbelievable support from his mother. It was about the hair falling out and how he was going to play cricket. He would put his cricket cap on and when he pulled it off, a bunch of hair would fall out. That sort of stuff was really challenging for Matthew.”

Wade is currently leading the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League. A few days back, he slammed 93 off 46 in a clash against the Sydney Sixers.