‘I want to be the best player of spin’ – Alex Carey
For the best part of the one-day international series between England and Australia, Alex Carey sat on the bench watching the action in the middle. He got a chance in the last two games, and scored 6 and 44 as England swept the visitors 5-0. After watching Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid stifle the middle-order batsmen, he is convinced that he needs to be the best player of spin bowling he can be.
Carey, 26, is thought of highly in Australia. So much so that despite the experience of just three ODIs and five Twenty20 Internationals, he was made vice-captain to Aaron Finch for the T20I side that will play a one-off game against England on Wednesday, 27 June.
With Tim Paine, the ODI captain, keeping wickets as well, Carey didn’t get a chance in the matches early on, and then played as a pure batsman in the last two games.
Though he couldn’t change the flow of the series, the experience was educational. “Sitting on the sidelines was tough watching the boys,” Carey said. “Playing the last few games was a great experience for me, playing in England, a one-day series against the best side in the world.
“I personally took a lot out of it sitting back watching the best side in the world go about their business, and how much work we've all got to do to lift our game.”
Well as England’s batsmen played, smashing the inexperienced Australian bowlers to all parts of the ground, Ali and Rashid performed brilliantly, picking up 24 wickets between them at a combined economy rate of just over five an over.
“I want to be the best player of spin,” said Carey. “We've seen through those middle overs we need to be better. It doesn't have to be scoring boundaries every ball but at least manipulating the field, being a bit more busy, and getting on top of the spin.”
Having a high-worth coaching unit led by Justin Langer and with Ricky Ponting around as a short-term consultant has been great for Carey, who also spent time with Adam Gilchrist, who dropped in at the Australian training sessions occasionally.
“I've been speaking to Punter about whatever it is that comes up. There's so much I've spoken to him about and just trying to take what works for me as well. Just taking bits from all these guys (Langer, Ponting, Gilchrist) and trying to put it into my game, without trying to complicate it as well,” he explained.
With Gilchrist, Carey probably had more to talk about, since he is a wicket-keeper batsman like the all-time Australian great.
“It's more the off-field stuff and just coming into a game with a pretty clear mind of what's going to be best for the team to win a game,” said Carey of his interactions with Gilchrist. “The best part about Gilly is he kept it pretty simple when he played and he's doing the same with the messages he's giving us.
“If there's anything it's just little bits and pieces but it's pretty much ‘what's best for our team to win' and going into games with that mentality. It keeps everything else pretty simple.”