Alex Carey lauded as a middle-order weapon for Australian

The Australian

21 hours ago

Alex Carey has become one of the 'scariest' players for opposition teams, according to his Australian captain Pat Cummins, as the keeper enjoys a career-best run with the bat ahead of a blockbuster Ashes summer.
Carey was named man-of-the-match in Australia's second Test win over the West Indies in Grenada on the back of 93 runs across two innings, with his 63 in the first dig as the top-order battled pivotal in the victory.
Only Travis Head has more runs than Carey's 166 runs through the opening two games and it's a fact not lost on Cummins, who has seen the 33-year-old build into a formidable middle-order prospect with an ability to take the game away from opponents.
Carey, who was handed duties to lead the team song after wins from Nathan Lyon, evidence of his importance to the team, has racked up 521 runs in his last 10 red-ball innings, including centuries in the final two games of the Sheffield Shield season, with only one score below 23 in that run.
Alex Carey is in career-best form with the bat. Picture: AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan
He failed to pass 50 in only one of those past 10 games, in the World Test Championship final at Lord's where he still made scores of 23 and 43.
It's a run of runs that moved Cummins to declare Carey had become the type of player other teams would now fear.
'I mean, he's about four or five years into his Test career. I think in the last year or so, it's probably been his most prolific,' Cummins said.
'He looks really settled and any opposition that kind of has a No.7, it's normally a keeper, but walks in and they're kind of in good form, they can move the game quickly. They're some of the scariest players and we've got Kez in our side that does that.
'He's great, he's keeping really well also but always seems to contribute.'
Carey's run comes ahead of the Ashes, with his opposite number, English keeper Jamie Smith, blasting Indian bowlers during their current series, including an unbeaten 188 in a losing effort in the second Test at Edgbaston.
Jamie Smith has been in great form for England. Picture:Cummins said Carey had turned himself in to a player who contributed 'time and time again' and in a manner that gave his teammates confidence.
'It's a really tricky period to walk into bat, at No.5, six or seven,' he said.
'The game's normally in the balance and time and time again him along with a couple others seem to take the game away from the opposition.
'And bowling to him as well, he's just looking really sharp and really hard to bowl to.
'He's been unbelievable for South Australia when he played the Shield games, and he's just carried on to international cricket, so he's just a guy that knows his game really well.
'He's confident and is enjoying a really good patch at the moment.'