Carey living in the moment following green and gold return

Nicola Carey is refusing to look too far ahead following her recall that ended a three-year hiatus from international cricket, insisting she's instead determined to live in the moment.

Carey played her first match for Australia since December 2022 on Sunday at the SCG, but did not get a chance to fully show how she has elevated her all-round game in the washed-out encounter.

The Hobart and Tasmania allrounder hit a run-a-ball 12 on what was overall a difficult night for the Australia batters in Sydney, and bowled just one over before the match was abandoned with India winning by 21 runs (DLS).

"The start that we had, it's not ideal dropping the first game in a series," Carey told The Scoop podcast this week, ahead of the second T20I in Canberra.

"But this group hasn't played a game of T20 cricket together in 12 months ... so hopefully it's just a little bit of rust and blow out the cobwebs."

The 32-year-old is part of Australia's T20I and ODI squads for the multi-format series, and with a T20 World Cup looming on the horizon, this series is a chance for all players to impress ahead of the tournament in England in June.

But Carey, who turned down a Cricket Australia contract in 2023 to focus on domestic cricket and who has admitted she thought her international career may have been over, is refusing to let her mind wander too far, knowing the importance of focusing on what has worked so well for her in recent seasons.

"I don't really set any lofty goals," Carey said.

"I didn't really have any expectations of even being in this squad (and) I don't know what that means long term or anything like that – I'm here in this squad for the white-ball series, and I'll do my best if I get the chance and whatever comes from that, comes from that.

"Either way, I'm really happy if this pans out, so be it if it doesn't. I'm kind of happy going with the flow in that regard.

"I don't really want to put too many expectations on it, because the way that I've gone about it in the last little period, I've really enjoyed my cricket, and I've felt really relaxed going about it, and I've enjoyed that, and I think that's helped me on the field as well.

"I wouldn't want to change that by thinking about all these things that could potentially happen in the future, because at the end of the day, I can't really control it anyway, so I'm just going to go with it and see where it takes me."

Carey's international recall is the latest in a string of significant – and at times, unexpected – moments across the last six months.

It started with a surprise late call-up to The Hundred last August, when she was flown over to the UK as an injury replacement for fellow Australian Georgia Wareham.

She hit the ground running with the Northern Superchargers, playing six matches and named player-of-the-match in the final as they took out the title at Lord's.

Her performances left an impression and in November, Carey's name was called out at the Women's Premier League auction as she was picked up by Mumbai Indians.

Just weeks later, she helped Hobart Hurricanes take out their first WBBL title, and in January, while playing in India, she got the call from Australia selector Shawn Flegler, gauging her interest in an international return.

"I feel like I've had a lot of weird little experiences where I wasn't really expecting it in the last few months or so," Carey said.

"(The Hundred) was really unexpected. To even get the opportunity to go over there was really cool … I had so much fun with that group, great girls and great coaching staff.

"To make the final, and then to win the final was a really cool experience.

"(And) winning the Big Bash with the Hurricanes, that's obviously a huge highlight.

"It's something that we've spent a lot of years trying to achieve … growing that group over the last few years, and feeling like we have slowly been making our way to the finals, and pushing further along.

"To get it done this year was huge for cricket in Tasmania – that's probably definitely top of the tree for me this year."

NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series

India lead the multi-format series 2-0

Australia T20I squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

 

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Uma Chetry, Arundhati Reddy, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Shreyanka Patil

February 15: India won by 21 runs (DLS)

February 19: Second T20, Manuka Oval, Canberra, 7:15pm AEDT

February 21: Third T20, Adelaide Oval, 7:15pm AEDT

Australia ODI squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

 

India ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Kashvee Gautam, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry, Harleen Deol

February 24: First ODI, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 2:50pm AEDT

February 27: Second ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT

March 1: Third ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT

Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

 

India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare

March 6-9: Test match, WACA Ground, 4:20pm AEDT (D/N)