Ice-cool Carey impresses Haddin

The luxury of having a World Cup-winning wicketkeeper as a full-time mentor to fledgling wicketkeeper Alex Carey took just a handful of overs to pay off in the first game of Australia’s World Cup title defence.

Nerves nearly got the better of Carey when, presented with his first real challenge of the tournament with a stumping chance off leg-spinner Adam Zampa against Afghanistan in Bristol, he closed his gloves a millisecond too early.

Lodged like a scoop of vanilla ice cream in his fingertips, Carey could have easily fluffed the opportunity had he not kept his cool.

Image Id: BAA6C4B7A10744ACA41E955A002C28F6 Image Caption: Carey completes the stumping with the ball in his fingertips // Getty

"You train to get your basics right so that under pressure, you don't panic,” said assistant coach Brad Haddin, Australia’s gloveman in their 2015 World Cup win.

“And he didn’t panic when it popped out a little bit."

It was hardly a textbook take, but Carey got the bails off in time and the relief on his face was palpable.

Having earlier taken a straightforward catch off Pat Cummins in the second over of the match, Carey safely pouched three more to finish with five dismissals, one short of the World Cup record jointly held by Adam Gilchrist and Sarfraz Ahmed.

"Someone like 'Kez' thinks about things a lot, so it was good to get this game out of the way," said Haddin.

Image Id: DC4DF78DCD9745918E73E5D9C4DC061E Image Caption: Carey reacts after his stumping in Bristol // Getty

"He was pretty nervous leading into the first game of the World Cup, but I thought over the last couple of days he really got his rhythm (at training) and he got the reward for that today.

"Sometimes you can go through these tournaments and keep really well, especially in one-day cricket, and not get the results on the scoreboard. So that’s good for his confidence.

"He had a good day behind the stumps and I just like seeing him doing well and getting rewarded with five dismissals."

Haddin is officially Australia's fielding coach, but his presence as a day-to-day mentor to Carey is a huge bonus given the 27-year-old is still finding his feet at international level.

Already the one-day side's vice-captain despite having just 20 ODIs under his belt, Carey is the least experienced keeper at the tournament.

But the former Australian rules footballer, who was cut from Greater Western Sydney's list as a teenager after being the club's first captain, has been a sponge, according to Haddin.

"He learns so quick," the 2015 World Cup-winner told cricket.com.au earlier this year.

"One of the beauties with Alex is he picks up things. You can tell him once and he goes away and thinks about it. He comes back to you and says, 'I haven't slept last night, but I understand what you're saying'. Which is good. He's a quick learner.

"He's obviously had a different pathway to get to here. He's been around professional sport his whole life, so he's got some really good behaviour traits around wanting to get better and keeping his standards at training.

"From a cricket point of view, he might have started a little behind but from a leadership and understanding what it takes to be an elite athlete, he's got all the right stuff there."

2019 World Cup

Australia's squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

June 1: Australia beat Afghanistan by seven wickets

June 6: Australia v West Indies, Trent Bridge

June 9: India v Australia, The Oval

June 12: Australia v Pakistan, Taunton

June 15: Sri Lanka v Australia, The Oval

June 20: Australia v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge

June 25: England v Australia, Lord's

June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)

July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)

July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford

July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston

July 14: Final, Lord's

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE