Alex Carey has been named as Australia’s stand-in captain after Aaron Finch got injured and the vice-captain Pat Cummins not being part of the squad against the West Indies series.
Alex Carey is set to captain Australia in the first ODI match against West Indies, Cricket Australia announced it on Tuesday after Aaron Finch was ruled out following an injury.
Finch got a right knee injury during last week in the fifth T20I against West Indies and Cricket Australia said that his availability for the second and third ODI will depend on his regular basis performance.
All the matches are scheduled to be played at Barbados, starting from Wednesday. Alex Carey will become Australia’s 26th ODI captain and takes the responsibility under the absence of Pat Cummins who is not included in the squad along with the senior player’s Steve Smith and David Warner.
“I am deeply honored to be able to lead the team while Aaron recovers,”
said Carey, who has previously captained Australia A, the Adelaide Strikers, and South Australia.
“To the captain, Australia is one of the greatest privileges in sport and honor 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.”
Australia recently lost the five-match T20 series to West Indies by 4-1 with several senior players missing the squad and Carey will lead the inexperienced ODI squad including Josh Philippe, Ben McDermott, and Riley Meredith in the mix to make their debuts.
Carey’s leadership skills were recognized at an early age, although not in Cricket. The talented young gun, also ruled as a footballer after he became the first official skipper of the newest football team, the Greater Western Sydney Giants, albeit when they were still only part of Victoria’s Under-18 competition.
When later, he had been ruled out from the squad due to lack of speed, he immediately switched to Cricket and made his debut for South Australia within two years.
The left-hander has been kept as a good option since he made his first international debut against England in 2018 and he is also a strong contestant to take over gloves from Tim Paine in Tests under his absence.
“For a long period, Alex has shown an extremely high level of professionalism and discipline as a fantastic leader within this group. The injury to Finchy gives Alex the opportunity of his first experience as a captain. I have no doubt he will do a fantastic job with the support of the other senior players,”
said the Head Coach, Justin Langer.