Carey handed reins of Aussie team; Simmons credits team spirit for turnaround
Carey will become just the fourth wicket-keeper to captain Australia’s men’s ODI team when the side take on the West Indies in the first of three ICC Cricket World Cup Super League matches
Alex Carey will become just the fourth wicket-keeper to captain Australia’s men’s ODI team when the side take on the West Indies in the first of three ICC Cricket World Cup Super League matches.
On Monday (local), Carey was confirmed as captain for the opening match with regular skipper Aaron Finch ruled out with a knee injury. Finch will be assessed on a day-by-day basis.
“I am deeply honoured to be able to lead the team while Aaron recovers,” Carey said.
“To captain Australia is one of the greatest privileges in sport and an honour I am extremely thankful to receive.
“Finchy is our captain and we will welcome him back with open arms when he is fully fit, so for now I hope I can fill the role to his extremely high standards.
“To lead this group against the West Indies in the West Indies is a great challenge and one I very much look forward to for as long as I have the opportunity.”
Only three keepers have captained Australia’s men’s ODI team in the past. They are Adam Gilchrist (17 matches), Ian Healy (8) and Tim Paine (5).
Carey, who has played 42 ODIS and 33 T20IS for Australia, has previous captaincy experience at the domestic level, having skippered his state and BBL teams as well as Australia A last summer.
“For a long period of time Alex has shown an extremely high level of professionalism and discipline as a fantastic leader within this group,” coach Justin Langer said.
“The injury to Finchy gives Alex the opportunity of his first experience as captain. I have no doubt he will do a fantastic job with the support of the other senior players.”
The Australians will be looking to bounce back from their 4-1 T20I series loss to the same opposition and have reason to be confident having won each of their past three ODI campaigns.
“We played some good cricket, we had some opportunities to stay alive in the series and unfortunately we didn’t quite grab them,” Carey said, reflecting on the T20I series loss, pointing to the change in format being a chance to refresh.
“Moving into one-day cricket, the game lengthens out, there are some opportunities to bat some time in the middle. A new location here in Barbados and a new series with a likelihood of some fresh faces, it’s an exciting feel around the group.”
Langer’s team currently sit third on the CWCSL standings and can draw level on points with second-placed Bangladesh if they manage to win this series 3-0. West Indies, siting ninth with 30 points, can climb as high as third this series.
West Indies men’s coach Phil Simmons has said that the turnaround in the team was due to the “honest” sessions the side has had before the Sri Lanka series and later the series against South Africa, where the focus was on playing for the pride of the country.
Though South Africa won the away T20I series 3-2, West Indies gave a tough fight with the series being decided in the final match. Against Australia in the ongoing white-ball series, West Indies have won the T20IS 4-1, with the three-match ODI series set to begin on July 21.
Buoyed by the success of the side of late, Simmons said on Monday that, “What has brought this sense of unity is the willingness and the hunger to win cricket matches for West Indies. At the start of the Sri Lanka series we had a chat among all the players and the main thing we discussed was to understand that we had to play cricket together for West Indies.
“We had some honest conversations among all team members before the the South Africa series as well… we are looking at making sure that we go there to represent West Indies. We’re not going to win every game but equality that we put out when we are on the field is going to highlight West Indies cricket,” added the former all-rounder.
West Indies player Kieron Pollard said ahead of the opening ODI here that, “It’s an Australian cricket team that let the shores and these guys will want to impress. It’s a mater of us concentrating on what we need to do and our plans.”