Wade given all clear after nasty blow

In-form batter Matt Wade sent an injury scare through the Australian XI camp after he retired hurt at tea on day three against England Lions after copping a nasty short ball flush on his right elbow.

Having just arrived at the crease, Wade was struck by a Lewis Gregory delivery and immediately wheeled around to square leg where he dropped to his haunches clutching his elbow.

With team doctor John Orchard by his side, Wade was in obvious discomfort as he removed his white sweatband, repeatedly squeezed his right hand and picked up his bat to see if he could carry on.

The sight of the left-hander putting his sweatband back on indicated he would tough it out, and his return to the crease was greeted with another short ball from Gregory.

Image Id: E04734BEF8414818BD5F3988FC56A87D Image Caption: Wade was left doubled over after the blow // Getty

The Tasmanian batted through until tea but after the 20-minute break had elapsed it was No.6 Mitch Marsh who strode out alongside Travis Head and not Wade, who had retired hurt in the interval as a precautionary measure.

It is understood Wade was in good spirits as he iced his elbow on the dressing room balcony. He was sent for scans which showed no break but it is unlikely he will bat again in Canterbury.

"Matthew went for a precautionary X-ray after taking a blow to his right elbow," said Dr Orchard.

"The X-ray came back clear but he's probably suffering from a bruised nerve from the impact and his grip strength is impaired.

"Matthew will be reassessed in the morning but it's unlikely he'll bat again in this innings. However we're very hopeful he'll recover in good time for the Australia - Australia A game next week."

A serious injury so close to the Ashes would be a cruel blow for Wade, who left his home in Hobart with his family's blessing just days after the birth of his second child to push for an Ashes spot after a dominant summer with the bat.

The 31-year-old scored 1021 runs at 60 for the Tigers in the Sheffield Shield and was the second leading run-scorer in the KFC Big Bash behind Hobart Hurricanes teammate D'Arcy Short. 

He's been in stunning form on Australia A's tour of England, posting one-day centuries against Northamptonshire and Derbyshire, the latter the fastest List A hundred by an Australian off just 45 balls.

Following injuries to Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja, Wade was called up to Australia's World Cup squad but ultimately didn't play in the semi-final loss to England.

He returned to the Australia A camp in time to take his place in the Australian XI for the clash against the Lions in Canterbury, where he scored 114 from 147 balls on day one.

Wade shared a 219-run stand with Head, who has been thoroughly impressed with the way the veteran has capitalised on his chances in the past year. 

"He's been fantastic," Head told cricket.com.au on Tuesday. "His red-ball stuff has been his highlight over the last 12 months and obviously his Big Bash stuff.

"The dominance he had in the white ball format he's brought that straight back in.

"But it's no surprise – he got 1000 runs in the Shield season.

"He played beautifully, he gave himself an opportunity, he was slow going at the start but he has been for the last 12 months, he's given himself a chance, made the bowlers bowl to him and once he got himself in he dominated the bowlers.

"He's in really good form and it's nice to see he went on and got a hundred and put us in a great position."

Australia A tour of the UK

Get live scores and all the latest news from Australia A's tour of the UK on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app

Australia A one-day squad: Travis Head (c), Matthew Wade, Will Pucovski, Peter Handscomb, Mitch Marsh (vc), D'Arcy Short, Kurtis Patterson, Ashton Agar, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Sean Abbott, Andrew Tye

Australia A four-day squad: Tim Paine (c), Marcus Harris, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Travis Head (vc), Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Mitch Marsh, Michael Neser, Jon Holland, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Chris Tremain

One-day fixtures:

June 20: Australia A beat Northamptonshire by six wickets

June 23: Australia A beat Derbyshire by seven wickets

June 25: Australia A v Worcestershire, match abandoned

June 30: Australia A beat Gloucestershire by five wickets

July 2: Australia A beat Gloucestershire by nine runs

Four-day fixtures:

July 7-10: Australia A beat Sussex by 10 wickets, Arundel

July 13-16: Australian XI v England Lions, Canterbury

July 23-26: Australia v Australia A, Hampshire