Amid concern over managing the workload of Matthew Wade in the United Arab Emirates, it has been revealed that the wicketkeeper is not among the players in Australia’s one-day international squad who cope best with the heat.
Wade opened the batting for Australia in Sunday’s ODI against Afghanistan in hot and steamy conditions in Sharjah, scoring 75 and sharing a century partnership with skipper Michael Clarke (75).
Both players were plunged into ice baths after their batting stints before going out to field, with the super-fit Wade undertaking the demanding dual roles in the match of opening batsman and wicketkeeper.
“Matt’s in the moderate category but Michael was pretty fresh in comparison,” Australia’s strength and conditioning coach Stu Karppinen said on Monday at the team’s net session.
“Matt was still hot and comfortable in the water. Michael was shivering by the 15-minute mark.”
Acting head coach Steve Rixon has raised the idea of Wade being asked to bat in the middle order if he is drained after a tough stint behind the stumps, or Mike Hussey could take over the gloves if Wade feels flat after a long batting innings.
Clarke’s squad arrived in Sharjah less than a week before Tuesday’s (2400 AEST) start of their ODI series against Pakistan, adding to the challenge faced by Wade.
“We’ve got three categories of players. Guys who cope okay, guys who cope moderately and guys who store a lot of heat,” Karppinen says.
“That’s the information we’ve already had on them through the work that (nutritionist) Michelle Cort did.”
Australia used a pre-tour training camp in Darwin to help prepare for UAE conditions.
Karppinen says Clarke and injured paceman Clint McKay are among those who cope best with the heat.
“Guys who are on the other end would be two of our quicks, James Pattinson and Mitchell Johnson, and (spin-bowling allrounder) Glenn Maxwell actually store a lot of heat,” he said.
A nearby fridge had already been drained of drinks, as players take turns opening the double doors and trying to close them behind them to steal a few seconds of chill-out time.
“We normally have 10 to 12 days before our major competitions and that’s enough in terms of time-zone adjustment and in terms of managing heat,” Karppinen says.
“It’s one of the few occasions that we’ve been quite time-poor.”
Karppinen and team doctor Peter Brukner monitored hydration levels with urine samples and weighed players before, during and after the Afghanistan match.
Some players lost three kilograms.
“Probably the biggest we’ve seen in my time was John Hastings lost six kilograms during a training session (in Colombo in 2011),” Karppinen says.
“He had to have nine litres of fluid in order to get himself into a rehydrated state.”
