Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey has admitted not knowing what to expect ahead of his maiden World Cup campaign, even as he now looks forward to facing India, and MS Dhoni in particular, at The Oval on June 9.
“It’s a World Cup, so I didn’t know too much what to expect,” Carey told the ICC website. “Rolling to the first game on the bus and seeing all the crowd gave me some goosebumps. I thought it was a pretty cool feeling.”
Carey, who debuted for Australia in an ODI against England last year, made it to the final squad of 15 for the 2019 World Cup as the sole wicketkeeper in the side. He was also part of the team that visited India, whom they play next on Sunday, for five ODIs and two T20Is earlier this year.
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Carey was part of the ODI side that hosted India, and toured them, in early 2019[/caption]
“Playing against him [MS Dhoni] in India and Australia, he’s very calm,” Carey added. “He always gives himself a chance to finish off the game. He gives himself time out in the middle. They’re pretty calm heads, they give themselves a chance to finish off an innings.”
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In Australia’s game against West Indies on Thursday, June 6, Carey showed his capability with the bat, stitching a crucial stand worth 68 with Steve Smith after his side had slipped to 79-5 inside 17 overs.
Carey’s 45, along with Smith’s 73, and a career-best 92 by Nathan Coulter-Nile, took Australia to 288 – a total West Indies eventually fell short by 15 runs.
The 27-year-old keeper, vice-captain of the side, showered praise on Smith for his unflappable temperament in the face of danger, as he went about scoring his first ODI fifty since September 2017, also helping Carey stay calm during their partnership.
“He [Smith] batted beautifully,” said Carey. “His tempo, with lots of wickets falling, was outstanding, he showed his class.
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“It was a matter of trying to absorb a bit of pressure, just bat and scrap through as many as we could”[/caption]
“There was no pressure from him, so we were fine just going together. I think we know at Trent Bridge if we give ourselves a bit of time we can score freely.”
Analysing his own knock, only his third 45-plus ODI score in 18 innings, Carey said he took time to get his eye in, but never felt any pressure from Smith, at the other end, to bring up the scoring rate.
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“Personally, I felt OK,” he added. “I gave myself a fair bit of time to get my innings going. Speaking to Smudge [Smith] there was plenty of time left on the board. It was a matter of trying to absorb a bit of pressure, just bat and scrap through as many as we could.”
“He didn’t say a lot. I suppose when I was two off 23 balls he gave me no indication I was doing something wrong, backing up what I was trying to do out there.”
