Alex Carey enters BGT in arguably his best nick ever as he looks to make a difference in his fourth home test summer.
Alex Carey is arguably Australia’s most relaxed man. Even though Inglis is in the team for his batting, he is their most effective player going into the Test series against India and might win games with bat and gloves.
As he begins his fourth home summer as a Test player, Carey, 33, claims he has never felt more youthful. Over the winter, none of the Australian team’s players had a lengthier break from cricket.
Carey missed six months of action between his game-winning and maybe career-saving 98 not out in Christchurch during Australia’s final Test match in March. Despite not playing, he attended Major League Cricket. These days, international players hardly ever get to spend time in a preseason like that.
The advantages are becoming apparent. When he rejoined the team in September, he scored 74 and 77 not out in his debut ODI match in England. In the first two Shield games, he has blasted 90, 111, and 123 not out. In the third, he led his team to a low-scoring victory with scores of 44 and 42. With 75 off 63 in his final One-Day Cup match for South Australia, he completed his preparation.
He was able to experiment with his batting throughout the time away. He attributes some of his form to feeling new. In addition, he made a minor adjustment to his setup without consulting anybody else.
“When you play and play and play, you don’t really get a chance to work on too many things,” Carey told reporters on Monday ahead of the first Test in Perth. “Not having games coming up for a while, I’ve just mucked around a little bit with my hands and found something that felt good and sort of ran with that.
“It’s only slight, but at the moment, it feels like I’m in a good position and reacting pretty well to the ball. But I think just a bit of time off and a bit of exploring gives you those opportunities.”
Carey is also unconcerned with the inclusion of Inglis in the Test team, who recently achieved two Shield hundreds and some outstanding white-ball form. Instead of Carey, Inglis has been selected as the backup batter to cover for the top six. The two have participated in ODI matches together, most recently in September at Lord’s.
He admitted that they might play in the same Test XI at some point, which might allow Inglis to eventually take his place, much like it did for the ODI squad. Regarding the implied strain Inglis places on his position as the top wicketkeeper, Carey is realistic.
“I understand it’s a unique position to be in,” Carey said. “There’s one wicketkeeper in a team, and there’s lots of quality around the country who are trying to get that spot and I was one of those players once. You focus on your game. You control what you can control.
“For me, it’s doing my job for this team, hopefully help us win games of cricket and play in this Test team as long as possible.”