Alex Tyson Carey (born 27 August 1991) is an Australian international
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
er. Formerly an
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er, he is currently a
wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. ...
who plays for the
Australian national team in all formats. In domestic cricket, he plays for
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
and
Adelaide Strikers
The Adelaide Strikers are an Australian professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia that compete in the Big Bash League (BBL).Cricket Australia (n.d), Teams and Players, Cricket Australia, accessed 1 Decembe ...
. He was the captain of the
Greater Western Sydney Giants
The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...
in 2010, but when they joined the
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...
in 2012, he was left out of the squad and returned to his home state of South Australia, where he began to play domestic cricket.
Carey initially made his debut as a specialist top-order
batsman
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...
in 2013, but was unsuccessful and dropped. He moved down the batting order and became a wicket-keeper.
Football career
As a teenager, Carey played both
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
and
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
, and as he got older, he started to play football at a higher level, playing for
Glenelg in the
South Australian National Football League
The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport.
O ...
(SANFL) reserves competition alongside adults by the time he was 15.
In 2008, Carey was included in South Australia's squad for the
2008 AFL Under 18 Championships, but he did not play any game. He was also in the AIS/AFL Academy intake for 2008. He continued to advance in 2009 and played for South Australia in the
2009 AFL Under 18 Championships
The 2009 AFL Under-18 Championships was the 2009 series of the AFL Under 18 Championships, a state and territory-based Australian rules football competition which showcases the best junior footballers in Australia, primarily with the aim for the ...
in addition to winning the SANFL reserves premiership with Glenelg.
Carey turned down a rookie contract offer from the
South Australian Cricket Association and moved to
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
in 2010 to join the
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...
's (AFL) new expansion club, the
Greater Western Sydney Giants
The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...
,
[ who were playing in the ]TAC Cup
The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Vict ...
for the season to prepare for their entry into the AFL in 2012. Carey captained the side, who made it to the finals and, despite missing the final four rounds due to injury, won the team's best and fairest
In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...
award. He played for them again in 2011 in the North East Australian Football League
The North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) was an Australian rules football league in New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The league was formed in November 2010, and its inaugural co ...
, but he wasn't given a place in their inaugural AFL squad for the 2012 season and returned to Adelaide.[
]
Cricket career
Domestic and T20 career
When Carey returned to Adelaide, he initially intended to return to the Glenelg Football Club
Glenelg Football Club is an Australian rules football team, which plays in the South Australian National Football League. The club is known as the "Tigers" (or the "Bays"), and their home ground is ACH Group Stadium (formerly Glenelg Oval), lo ...
, but he decided to switch sports and went back into grade cricket
Grade cricket, also known as Premier Cricket is the name of the senior inter-club or district cricket competitions in each of the Australian states and territories. The term may refer to:
*Victorian Premier Cricket
* NSW Premier Cricket
* Queens ...
with the Glenelg Cricket Club
Glenelg District Cricket Club (the "Seahorses") are a Grade Cricket team located in Adelaide, South Australia. The club was founded in 1907. Their official website is http://www.gdcc.net.au
Glenelg competes in the South Australian Grade Cricket L ...
for the 2012–13 season. He started out as a specialist batsman and averaged close to 50 for Glenelg in all formats.[ His form warranted his first call-up to represent ]South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
. He made his List A cricket
List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numb ...
debut in a Ryobi Cup match against New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
and was also brought into the Sheffield Shield
The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Sh ...
side, making his first-class debut.[ He played three Shield matches and averaged only 10.1 in six batting innings as he was dropped from the side.][
Carey was given a rookie contract with South Australia for the 2013–14 season, though he didn't play a game for the state team during the season. After his failures as a top-order batsman, he became a ]wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. ...
and moved down the batting order. This resulted in him being able to play several matches for South Australia in the Futures League
The Toyota Second XI or Futures League is the Australian national second XI cricket competition.
Run by Cricket Australia, it is part of its development program and includes the various state and territory second XI teams, from the 2009–10 s ...
.[ His breakout season came in 2015–16, when he scored 822 runs at an average of 90.22 in 10 matches for Glenelg, including big scores of 195 against ]Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
and 151 against West Torrens.[ In the Futures League, he averaged 44.13 in his five matches,][ so he was called up to play for South Australia again in the final four rounds of the ]2015–16 Sheffield Shield season
The 2015–16 Sheffield Shield season was the 114th season of the Sheffield Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition in Australia. The season began after the conclusion of the Matador BBQs One-Day Cup, and included a break halfway t ...
, replacing experienced wicket-keeper Tim Ludeman
Tim Ludeman (born 23 June 1987) is an Australian cricketer. Ludeman is a wicket-keeper who formerly played for South Australia.
He is a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper.
On 18 December 2014, Ludeman made 92 not out from just 44 deliveri ...
, including an appearance in the Sheffield Shield final.[
For the 2016–17 season, Carey was given his first senior contract with South Australia. This season was by far his most successful yet, as he became just the fourth player to record 500 runs with the bat and 50 dismissals as a wicket-keeper in a single Sheffield Shield season after Chris Hartley, ]Matthew Wade
Matthew Scott Wade (born 26 December 1987) is an Australian cricketer. He has represented the Australian national team as wicket-keeper and batsman in all three forms of international cricket. He plays domestic cricket for the Tasmanian cricke ...
and Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer and captain of the Australia national cricket team. He was an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-kee ...
.[ During the Sheffield Shield final, he took his 59th dismissal of the tournament, a record for wicket-keeper in a single Sheffield Shield season.] His improvement resulted in his inclusion in Australia's National Performance Squad
The National Performance Squad, also known as the Australia National Performance Squad, is a cricket team established by Cricket Australia in 2014 to give experience for young Australian state contracted players in international List A cricket. S ...
in the 2017 off-season, and he was also named as the sole wicket-keeper in the Australia A squad which was meant to tour South Africa for the 2017 South Africa A Team Tri-Series. He was chosen ahead of former Test
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
keepers Peter Nevill
Peter Michael Nevill (born 13 October 1985) is an Australian former cricketer who played 17 Tests and 9 T20 internationals for Australia. He also represented New South Wales and the Melbourne Stars, having previously played for the Melbourne R ...
and Tim Paine, indicating he was the next in line to replace Matthew Wade in the Australian Test team if Wade became injured.
Carey started the 2017–18 season playing in the JLT Cup for South Australia, coming close to a maiden century when he scored 92 against Victoria in the elimination final as part of South Australia's fourth-biggest one-day partnership of all time, putting on 212 runs with Jake Weatherald
Jake Weatherald (born 4 November 1994) is an Australian cricketer. Originally from Darwin in the Northern Territory, he is an opening batsman who plays for South Australia in both first-class and one-day cricket and plays for the Adelaide Str ...
. As a result of his selection for Australia A and one-day form, Carey went into the 2017–18 Sheffield Shield season as one of the main contenders to play for Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
in the 2017–18 Ashes series
The 2017–18 Ashes series (named Magellan Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches contested between England and Australia for The Ashes. The series was played at five venues across Australia between 23 Nov ...
. Though he had only played 18 first-class matches prior to the start of the season, Carey was considered the best young wicket-keeper in Australia. He had an opportunity to score runs and impress selectors in the first two matches, but he failed to score above fifty before the squad was named, coming close when he scored 46 not out before being stranded without any partners left against Western Australia. He was overlooked for the team, with Tim Paine being chosen instead. Despite his failure to make it into the national team, Carey scored his maiden first-class century when he made 139 for South Australia against Queensland.
In May 2019, Carey was signed by Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The ...
to play in the 2019 t20 Blast
The 2019 Vitality Blast is the 2019 season of the t20 Blast, a professional Twenty20 cricket league that was played in England and Wales. It was the second season in which the domestic T20 competition, run by the ECB, has been branded as the Vi ...
tournament in England. In the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) are a franchise cricket team based out of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Group. The team's home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadium, ...
ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League
The 2020 Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 13 and branded as Dream11 Indian Premier League 2020, was the thirteenth season of the IPL, a professional Twenty20 cricket (T20) league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India ...
.
International career
Carey's 2017–18 Big Bash League season
The 2017–18 Big Bash League season or BBL, 07 was the seventh season of the KFC Big Bash League, the professional men's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament started on 19 December 2017 and finished on 4 February 2 ...
form saw him make his One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
(ODI) debut for Australia, replacing an ill Tim Paine on 19 January 2018. Later the same month, he was named in Australia's Twenty20 International
A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are th ...
(T20I) squad for the 2017–18 Trans-Tasman Tri-Series
The 2017–18 Trans-Tasman Tri-Series was a Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tournament that was held in Australia and New Zealand in February 2018. It was a tri-nation series between Australia, England and New Zealand. It followed on fr ...
, which started in February 2018. He made his T20I debut for Australia against New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
on 3 February 2018.
In April 2018, Carey was awarded a national contract by Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...
for the 2018–19 season. On 8 May 2018, he was named vice-captain of the Australia T20 team. In April 2019, he was named in Australia's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup
The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted between 30 May ...
. He scored 375 runs from 10 matches and was Australia's 4th highest run scorer during the World Cup, behind Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to:
Academics
* Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager
* Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...
, Aaron Finch
Aaron James Finch (born 17 November 1986) is a Australian international cricketer who captains the Australian cricket team in T20I and formerly captained the national team in ODI cricket. Finch currently holds the record for two of the three hi ...
and David Warner. He also set the record for most catches by a wicket-keeper in a single edition of the World Cup, with 18 catches. He also stumped two batsmen to take his tally to an overall 20 dismissals. Following the World Cup, the International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the '' ...
(ICC) named Carey as the rising star of the squad. He was named as wicket-keeper in the 'Team of the Tournament' for the 2019 World Cup by the ICC.
On 16 July 2020, Carey was named in a 26-man preliminary squad of players to begin training ahead of a possible tour to England following the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. On 14 August 2020, Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...
confirmed that the fixtures would be taking place, with Carey included in the touring party.
Carey played in the first two T20I matches as wicket-keeper, but was dropped for the third in favour of Matthew Wade
Matthew Scott Wade (born 26 December 1987) is an Australian cricketer. He has represented the Australian national team as wicket-keeper and batsman in all three forms of international cricket. He plays domestic cricket for the Tasmanian cricke ...
. Wade remained Australia's T20I wicket-keeper through the rest of 2020 and 2021, although Carey played some T20I matches as a batsman.
Carey remained as Australia's ODI wicket-keeper, and played all three ODIs of the 2020 England tour. In the third ODI of the tour, on 16 September 2020, Carey scored his maiden ODI century, with 106 off 114 deliveries. He shared a partnership of 212 runs with Glenn Maxwell
Glenn James Maxwell (born 14 October 1988) is an Australian professional cricketer, who represents Australia national cricket team in One Day International and Twenty20 International formats of the game and has played Test cricket for Austral ...
for the sixth wicket and helped Australia win the match by 3 wickets.
In July 2021, Carey was named as Australia's captain for Australia's 1st ODI against West Indies in the absence of Aaron Finch
Aaron James Finch (born 17 November 1986) is a Australian international cricketer who captains the Australian cricket team in T20I and formerly captained the national team in ODI cricket. Finch currently holds the record for two of the three hi ...
who was suffering from a knee injury at the time. It was the first time Carey was named as Australia's ODI captain after already being vice captain of the side. Australia won the 1st ODI under his captaincy by 133 runs and Carey also completed 1000 ODI runs and 50 ODI catches in the match.
Carey made his Test debut on 8 December 2021, in the first Test of the 2021–22 Ashes series
The 2021–22 Ashes series, named the Vodafone Men's Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons, was a series of five Test cricket matches that were contested between England and Australia for The Ashes. The series was played at five venues across A ...
. He was chosen as the wicket-keeper for the first two Tests of the series, after Tim Paine stepped down from the Test team. Carey's baggy green cap was presented to him by Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer and captain of the Australia national cricket team. He was an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-kee ...
. Carey equalled the most catches by a wicket-keeper on Test debut, with eight catches. Carey was selected for Australia's 2022 tour of Pakistan and played in 3 tests and 3 ODIs. In the first innings of the first test, Carey scored 19 runs off of 43 balls. Australia did not bat a second time, and the match was drawn. In the first innings of the second test, Carey scored 93 off of 159 balls, before being bowled by Pakistani captain, Babar Azam
Mohammad Babar Azam (Urdu, pa, ; born 15 October 1994), is a Pakistani international cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in all formats. Regarded as one of the finest batters in contemporary world cricket, he is the o ...
. Carey did not bat during the second innings and the match was drawn. This was his highest score and was one run higher than previous Australian captain and wicketkeeper, Tim Paine, who had a high score of 92. In the first innings of the third and final test, Carey scored 67 runs off of 105 balls and helped Australia reach a total of 391 runs. Carey did not bat in the second innings and Australia won the match by 115 runs and won the 3 match series 1–0. Carey finished the test series with 179 runs from 3 innings, with a high score of 93 and an average of 59.66, which was the second highest on the Australian side.
In December 2022, Carey scored his maiden Test century during the Boxing Day Test against South Africa, becoming only the second wicketkeeper (after Rod Marsh) to score a century at the MCG, and the first Australian wicketkeeper to score a Test century since Brad Haddin
Bradley James Haddin (born 23 October 1977), is a former Australian cricketer, vice-captain and coach who represented Australia in all three forms of international cricket. He played domestically for New South Wales as a right-handed batsman ...
in 2013.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carey, Alex
Living people
1991 births
Australian cricketers
People from Loxton, South Australia
Adelaide Strikers cricketers
South Australia cricketers
Sussex cricketers
Australia One Day International cricketers
Australia Twenty20 International cricketers
Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup
Delhi Capitals cricketers
Australian cricket captains
Australia Test cricketers
Wicket-keepers