Matthew Wade has revealed he didn't want to travel to England for the trials with the Australia A squad for the Ashes and was left with a tough choice to make before the tour, reports Cricbuzz.
Wade, selected in the side primarily as a batsman, made it to the Ashes side having accumulated 1021 runs at an average of 60.05.
Wade was expecting the birth of his child in June and wanted to be with his wife when the 'A' side fine-tuned their preparations in England. He did stay back for the birth of his daughter and joined the side four days later.
"I felt like I'd put a lot of runs on the board already, that if that wasn't enough I was comfortable with that. Family comes first for me obviously and all of the cricketers here. It was a sticky situation," he said on Saturday (July 27).
"I was probably going to pass on the Australia A tour because we were going to have the baby and I rang [wife] Julia during the [final] Shield game and basically told her I was a chance to get picked in that Australia A tour and she told me to go. So all credit to her to be honest, otherwise I wouldn't be here.
"It was probably a bit challenging throughout the Australian summer ... trying to respect the selectors and respect my teammates when other people were getting picked, it was probably a little bit of a challenge for a little bit there."
Wade already has three centuries on the tour - two in List A games and one in a first-class game against England Lions - and stressed he's confident of batting at No. 5 or 6 if the opportunity arises for him.
"I see myself as a batter on this tour and if there is an opportunity to bat at five or six, wherever it is, I am comfortable to step in to it. Fingers crossed I get an opportunity," he said.