‘It’s always a good problem to have’ – Andrew McDonald not bothered with competition for wicketkeeping spot

Alex Carey and Josh Inglis (Source – Getty Images)

Alex Carey has made the most of his opportunity after a couple of substantial knocks in the ongoing ODI series against England. He replaced the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter, Josh Inglis after the latter suffered a quad niggle during the three-match T20I series. The second and third ODIs saw Carey score quickfire knocks of 74 and 77* each to get his side to a sizeable total at the end of their allotted quota of 50 overs.

Head coach of Australia, Andrew McDonald, had no qualms with there being a tussle between Carey and Inglis for the spot behind the stumps, and instead welcomed there being a problem of plenty. 

“It’s always a good problem to have when you’ve got people competing for spots within your team. Unfortunately, Josh was injured in the T20 series, and Alex has jumped into that spot and done incredibly well. So as I said, it’s always a good problem to have,” stated McDonald, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

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The way he’s performing isn’t a surprise to us: McDonald

McDonald also remarked that the manner in which Carey was playing the spinners was something he liked in particular.

“It’s always something we will consider. If you think back sort of 12 months ago, we had Ingo (Inglis) and Kez (Carey) in the same team. So it’s quite possible, and the way that Alex is batting is very impressive. Summing up the situation, navigating the going during the middle phase against spin. He’s a quality player. He’s played a lot of international cricket, so the way he’s performing isn’t a surprise to us,” added McDonald.

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A point to be noted is the fact that Carey had been included in the squad for the ODI World Cup 2023, but only played one game as Inglis played 10. Carey was recalled to the setup for the series against England, and seems to be on the right track in terms of being in the reckoning for next year’s Champions Trophy.

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