Wade had to move out of his 'comfort' zone to earn revered Oz baggy green

Sydney, Apr 5(ANI): Australian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade believes he had to come out of his comfort zone to earn his baggy green, as he prepares to make his Test debut against West Indies in the first Test at Kensington, Oval on Saturday.

Just like Ed Cowan, Peter Forrest and Michael Beer, Wade is another player who left his home state to fulfill his ambition.

"I learned a lot about myself as a person moving away from home at a young age, having to fend for yourself. We've seen a lot of players in the last three or four years move states and do really well with Ed and Peter on these tours, so it's a good thing to get away from your comfort zone and really fend for yourself," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Wade, as saying.

"It was definitely the right choice for me anyway. I was living at home with Mum and Dad so it was straight out [of home to interstate]. It was obviously a difficult situation to move away from your family and friends but you find a way to get it done and concentrate on cricket," he added.

His evolution to first-class cricket wasn't easy, as he was axed towards the end of his debut season, and missed out on the Shield final.When I first played first-class cricket, the first 12 months was really tough, obviously not knowing too much about what I needed to do to perform at that level," Wade said.

"I think that was probably the toughest time I've had in my career, trying to work out how to make it at first-class level and not knowing if you were quite good enough," he added. (ANI)