Buttler blueprint for Aussie World Cup cog

Alex Carey may have gotten the better of Jos Buttler on New Year's Eve, but Australia's budding white-ball wicketkeeper says his English counterpart remains the benchmark at their position.

Two men who shape as integral pieces of their side's respective 50-over World Cup campaigns in the United Kingdom later this year went head to head in the final KFC Big Bash game of 2018 in Adelaide.

Although Carey (59 off 40 balls) outdid Buttler (23 off 17) on the night to lead the Adelaide Strikers to a sixth consecutive victory in the showpiece fixture, it’s Buttler who has set a new standard for limited-overs glovemen.

The dynamic keeper-batsman has had a central role in reinventing England's one-day team since the 2015 World Cup, helping to form one of the most feared – and aggressive - batting line-ups ODI cricket has seen.

In his second season with the Sydney Thunder, Buttler has seized the chance to open and leads the BBL in both runs scored (195 at 49) and strike-rate among batters with at least 90 runs. 

"He's such a calm head – he doesn't look like his emotions change and he's very clear with what he wants to do," Carey told cricket.com.au. 

"I love watching guys like that play. I take a lot of out of that. I saw him first hand in England and he played outstandingly. 

"He's a great player and we're trying to work out how we get him out for the World Cup coming up."

Australia would love nothing more than to unearth their own version of Buttler, a middle and lower-order dynamo who can find the boundary from ball one.

But Carey's superb BBL form taking on the new ball for the Strikers suggests he may be more suited to a role at the top, when the white ball is rock hard and only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle.

The left-hander combined with Jake Weatherald for five consecutive boundaries in the Power Play against the Thunder, before dispatching the visitors' spin threat by punching Fawad Ahmed for six and reverse-sweeping Arjun Nair for four.

After only making his T20 debut at the start of last year's BBL, Carey now averages a superb 45 in the competition and has been remarkably consistent contributor at the top of the Strikers' batting order.

Australia have had a torrid run in one-day cricket, losing five straight bilateral series stretching back nearly two years to leave question marks over most positions in their XI.

On paper, the reigning 50-over world champions have a considerable depth of options of top-order batters even without adding Carey to the mix. Opener Aaron Finch is the captain, David Warner and Steve Smith look likely to return for the World Cup while Shaun Marsh, D'Arcy Short, Chris Lynn and Travis Head have had varying degrees of success in the top four.

Carey has opened just twice in 25 limited-overs matches for Australia (both in T20s) and while he says he’d jump at the chance for an extended at the top, he’s happy to continue in the middle order.

"I'd put my hand up to play any role for Australia," said the 27-year-old. 

"I do love batting at the top of the order.

"If I was to get an opportunity at the top of the order I'd obviously take that. (But) Finchy is probably going to take that role, Shaun Marsh is really good at the top of the order. 

"For me, I enjoyed playing in the middle of the order against South Africa (in Australia's 1-2 series defeat in November) and just tried to be busy and develop my game that way. 

"I'd be happy anywhere."

Australia will play 13 ODIs before their World Cup opener against Afghanistan in June, including three in the upcoming Gillette series against India later this month.