MATTHEW Wade continues to polarise the Australian cricketing community and now much loved icon Kerry O’Keeffe has joined the chorus.

O’Keeffe took issue with the national selection panel’s desire to add grunt to the Test side by introducing the Bushrangers skipper in a new YouTube series he’s created.

“The selectors said, ‘we want to bring in a bit of mongrel’,” O’Keeffe said.

“So they brought in Matthew Wade, basically because Paul Gallen was unavailable. Same sort of keeping skills … no that’s unkind.”

In his hilarious take on all things cricket, O’Keefe also took issue with Wade’s tendency to provide on-field commentary when behind the stumps.

Wade’s cries of “Bowling Gazza” when keeping to Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has become as common as David Warner’s OLED TV advertisements this summer, something “Skull” will not have.

“It’s wearing thin in the loungerooms around Australia,” he said. “If Gaz (Lyon) bowls a half volley outside off stump which is stroked quietly to cover for no run, he doesn’t deserve a ‘Bowling Gazza’. It’s a false dawn, because it’s not great bowling.

“Rod Marsh was my wicketkeeper throughout my career. Twenty-four Tests behind the stumps, he never described any of my deliveries back to me ‘great bowling’.

“Over after over I was ripping leg spinners, wrong-uns, flippers — without a word coming from behind the stumps. Occasionally he would walk past me at the end of an over and say, ‘can you give me something to do’.” Insert iconic Kerry O’Keefe laugh here.

Despite his lighthearted attack of Wade, O’Keefe did praise the work the 28-year-old has put in, in his time away from the Australian set up.

Wade impressed with his improved skills behind the stumps against South Africa in Adelaide, but the spotlight remains firmly on his exploits with the bat in hand.

The man he replaced in the Test side, Peter Nevill, crafted a sensational 179 not out off 331 balls for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield last week, immediately putting the pressure back on national selectors.

O’Keeffe explained that Nevill could be the preferred option in Australia’s batting line-up on next February’s tour of India because he’s a right-handed batsman.

“They’re awaiting us in India — Ravi Ashwin, (Ravi) Jadeja and new off-spinner (Jayant) Yadav — who made mince meat of England’s left-handers,” O’Keeffe said.

“How many left-handers could we field in that first Test? Eight? Eight lefties so they salivate over them! We have to get some right-handers in there.

“Why are we taking so many left-handers to India when we know they love bowling to them? It’s like saying ‘Winx is good in the wet, let’s get him to swim the English Channel’.”

O’Keeffe pointed to a pair of right-handers who could come into the Australian batting line-up for the Indian series to remedy the situation.

Cameron Bancroft is a player that has been close to Test selection in recent times, with the Western Australian selected in the postponed tour of Bangladesh earlier this year.

While he hasn’t started the Australian summer in great form, O’Keeffe is happy to overlook runs scored for his potential.

“He hasn’t got enough runs this year, but he has rhythm, he should be in a top six,” O’Keeffe said. “He has runs on the subcontinent on Australian A tours.”

Hilton Cartwright was a surprise inclusion in Australia’s squad for the current one day series with New Zealand, but O’Keefe says he is also a genuine option to earn a Baggy Green cap as well. “He looks the genuine article in the middle order. I’m a big fan,” O’Keeffe said.

“He can hit it over the fence, but he also has the game to play on a turner. He stays still and plays late.”