Carey keeping calm as likely Test debut looms

Alex carey's underwhelming recent red-ball form have failed to derail his push for a Baggy Green, with the wicketkeeper in a good mental place with a Test debut seemingly on the horizon.

Carey is widely expected to replace Tim Paine behind the stumps for the men's Vodafone Ashes opener, which starts at the Gabba on December 8.

 

The gloveman is yet to speak with selectors about whether he will become the 463rd man to play Test cricket for Australia, with that conversation likely to take place soon after coach Justin Langer returns from a trip to Tasmania to support former skipper Paine.

But Josh Inglis' pre-planned trip home to Perth see family on Tuesday was the latest pointer regarding Australia's plans for life after Paine. While Inglis, who travelled back to Perth with Ashton Agar and Mitch Marsh, is expected to return to Brisbane early next week with an Australia A game to run in conjunction with the first Test, his absence from the squad during the Ashes build-up is perhaps telling.

"Selection is totally out of my control now. It's something that I shouldn't waste time worrying about," Carey told RSN.

"The kids are home – a 12-week-old and three-year-old – so it's actually been great (sleep) the last couple of nights up here in Brisbane.

"Hopefully we hear (about selection) soon.

"If I am lucky enough to get the opportunity, I'd feel really proud and grateful ... a young kid's dream come true."

The 30-year-old served as stand-in ODI skipper this year in the West Indies with Aaron Finch missing with injury, but has been on the outer from Australia's T20 squads for the past two years, and missed the World Cup squad with selectors preferring the uncapped Inglis as reserve keeper.

The upside was it meant plenty of domestic cricket in recent weeks.

Carey passed 50 in just one of eight Marsh Sheffield Shield innings this season but Sunday's one-day century was a timely reminder of his talent.

"It wasn't a case of 'which end do I hold the bat?'. I still felt like I knew what I was doing," he said.

"I felt in a really good place mentally ... I was hitting the ball well.

"Although the runs didn't come as I would have liked in the first part of the Shield season, over the last couple of years I have been really pretty solid.

"If you miss out in one game, you're probably judged on that and feel like everything is coming down on you.

"It takes one innings to turn all that around and you're in great form again. Justin and George (chief selector George Bailey) have played so many games ... they know what it's like."

Carey remains determined to break back into Australia's T20 plans ahead of next year's World Cup.

"You go one of two ways (after being dropped)," he said.

"Get pretty upset about it, cranky and don't respond too well.

"Or cop it on the chin and learn from it. That's the path I'm going to take ... but for now it's prepare as well as I can (for the Test)."

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Schedule

First Test: December 8-12, The Gabba

Second Test: December 16-20, Adelaide Oval

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, Perth Stadium