Alex Carey will captain Australia for the first time after Aaron Finch was ruled out of the first One-Day International against West Indies with a knee injury.
Finch sustained the injury while batting in the final T20I in Saint Lucia and was visibly limping as he ran between the wickets. He is being assessed on a daily basis and it is not yet clear when he may be fit to play.
Carey steps into the role after an intriguing period in Australia’s white-ball leadership.
While his role in the Australian T20 side as either a specialised batter or a wicketkeeper-batter is less certain, his record in ODI cricket has been solid since he took over the keeping role from Tim Paine in 2018.
He shared the vice-captaincy role of the limited-overs sides between 2018 and 2020, when Cricket Australia named Pat Cummins - who opted out of the current tour - as the sole vice-captain, but he says CA has been clear about his leadership role.
“I think when I was given the news it was made pretty clear how I was still, I guess, held up amongst the group and for me nothing really changed over the last 12 months, understanding a lot of guys got some opportunities to vice-captain the team,” said Carey.
“My cricket didn't change, my mentality didn't change and it's a great opportunity to have the vice-captaincy when I did have it so, yeah, to be recognised over here in Barbados, to lead the group out tomorrow is just excitement at the moment.”
In the past two years, Carey has filled the captaincy role for Australia A and the Adelaide Strikers and he has also stepped in to lead South Australia in the absence of Travis Head. He is widely regarded as a future candidate for the Test captaincy, whenever Tim Paine retires.
“I guess if you're talking about preparation, those opportunities are great for my development,” Carey said.
“Playing more games at this level also gives you a greater understanding of what it takes and what it takes to win matches, so I'll continue to learn the game of cricket, no doubt, but I feel really confident with who I've got alongside me, the guys that will come out in the park with me tomorrow, the experience that we do have. So I guess that's probably comforting.”
Carey has already experienced the harsh criticism that can accompany the captaincy of a national side.
Last summer, former Australian captain Allan Border lambasted the Australia A side, led by Carey, labelling its performance against a touring India A team as “an absolute disgrace”.
It prompted Carey to call Border to clarify the comments and discuss the issues, something Carey describes as a useful “learning curve”.
“There's lots of really good and a lot of great leaders around the country still caring about the game of cricket,” said Carey.
“So for him to answer my call and have a chat to me about what he saw, that was a great learning curve for me to speak to one of Australia's best captains.”
After losing the T20 series, Australia will play three ODIs in Barbados, hoping to turn around a winter tour in which they have so far won one match that was a dead rubber.
While the T20 stage of the tour has been regarded largely as an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup, the ODI series carries added significance as part of the ICC Men’s World Cup Super League, which is the qualifying pathway for the 2023 50-over World Cup in India.
“Absolutely, the focus is winning the game of cricket for Australia and that's getting around my teammates that come out of the park with me, making sure we really connected in and really well planned,” said Carey.
“And in terms of my game, I feel really confident.
“We know T20 cricket’s a different game to One-Day cricket and I'm excited to lead the group tomorrow in the first game against the West Indies in their country.
“We want to get on the board early, we know how damaging they can be if you give them a chance, so we’re excited. We feel really ready and I'm excited to get out there with the yellows on and toss the coin.”
