Photo Credit: South Australian Cricket Association
West End Redbacks wicketkeeper Alex Carey is about to embark on his first Ashes series in England and he couldn’t be more excited.
With England’s new ‘Bazball’ approach since Kiwi Brendan McCullum took over as coach, Carey expects it to be a tough contest.
“The way that the English team is playing at the moment it’s going to be pretty exciting cricket to watch,” Carey said.
“I try not to have too many expectations and stay open-minded, but I feel like we’ve had two really solid years as a as a Test group and had a lot of success to be able to make our way to the Test Championship Final.
“But the way the English team is playing at the moment, they’re obviously going to take the game on, so it’s about how can we combat that.
“I feel like our bowling attack’s really, really strong at the moment, so we’ll be able to match up well against their batters and then it’s about our batting group being able to combat a really strong English bowling attack.”
After the 2023 World Test Championship Final at The Oval last week – where Australia convincingly beat India and Carey and fellow South Australian and Player of the Match Travis Head made 40 per cent of Australia’s runs between them – the First Test in Edgbaston will be only the second Test Carey has played in England.
Carey acknowledges “the cricket is different in England” but is looking forward to the challenge.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have a few [shorter format] tours over and it’s a great place to play cricket – it’s always a great atmosphere and no doubt it will be quite hostile at times,” he said.
“I was lucky enough to play an Ashes series in Australia and we got the better of the English team then but it’s going to be different.
“Our grounds are a bit bigger, the wickets are a little bit different, we’re playing with a different cricket ball as well.
“So, lots of little changes but I think having such an experienced team, we’ll be able to lean on a lot of those guys to ask questions and I’m really keen to get over and experience the longer format.”
So, do the differing conditions require a different keeping style behind the stumps?
“I’ve spoken to [SACA General Manager, Cricket] Tim Nielsen a lot about it,” Carey said.
“They talk about the ball wobbling a lot so it’s hard to train that, you can’t get someone to hit balls that wobble.
“I think still sticking to the basic training that we do here and once you get out in the middle, you’re competing so watching the ball as close as I can and really just enjoying it.”
It will be a special tour for Carey, who not only will be travelling with his young family, but also with one of his best mates in Head.
“It’s really special to have one of my best mates alongside me out the middle,” he said.
“The way Trav is playing at the moment is so exciting for Australia and South Australian cricket.
“It makes going on tour a bit easier having your best mate there and I think there’ll be a few kids on tour – this is the first tour Louis will remember and Clementine will be running amok – so it should be good fun.”
Carey had a message for the South Australian fans prior to the Ashes.
“We’ve already had so much support leading into this Ashes series – you get so many messages to wish us all the best on the tour and a lot of the cricket fans in South Australia have already done that,” Carey said.
“Hopefully we can play some really strong cricket, represent the country really well, represent South Australia really well.
“I know Trav and I, when we put on the Baggy Green, we’re representing a lot more than just that cap – it’s the guys back home that we play alongside, all the SACA fans.
“So, to all the to the fans out there, thanks for the support and hopefully we can come back with a little urn.”
The First Ashes Test begins on Friday, June 16 and you can watch Alex, Travis and the Australian team in the evenings on Channel 9.
