Ashes 2023: Australia not out to try and match England tactics, says Alex Carey

New Delhi [India], May 5 (ANI): Australia wicket-keeper Alex Carey expects his side to use the same tactics that helped them qualify for the ICC World Test Championship final when they take on England in the upcoming Ashes series.

The powerful Aussies qualified for next month’s World Test Championship final in first place on the back of a strong home record and will look to take that momentum into the meeting with India, and the five-match series against England that follows.
While England missed out on reaching the World Test Championship final, they have been one of the form teams over the last 12 months with new coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes bringing a brand-new brash style of play to the side that was quickly dubbed ‘BazBall’.

But Carey is adamant that Australia will not try and match that all out attacking approach when they attempt to retain the Ashes away from home, instead sticking to what has served them well in recent times.

“The tactical stuff will start to take place over the next couple of weeks but I don’t see us falling into our batters going out and trying to score the same rate,” Carey told Australian radio station SEN.

“We’ll do it differently, we’ve had some serious success in the last 18-24 months playing the style we want to play in different conditions and lucky enough to be rewarded with a spot in the World Test Championship (final).

“We are excited to come over to their backyard and take on a team that’s playing some really eye-catching cricket. As a player, it’s going to be a hot contest and I’m smiling just thinking about that first Test.”

The trip to England will be Carey’s first as Australia’s first-choice Test ‘keeper, although the 31-year-old performed admirably with the gloves and with the bat when amassing an impressive 20 dismissals and 375 runs for his country during the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Things will be different this time around for the confident left-hander, with Australia facing a hectic six-Test schedule over an eight-week period that commences with the World Test Championship final against India at The Oval from June 7.

Australia will then take on England in what is one of the most fiercely contested rivalries in international cricket and Carey is expecting the hosts to be raring to go when the first Ashes Test starts at Edgbaston on June 16.

“We’ve heard some stuff in the media what the wickets might be like, the boundaries etc, the way you guys (England) are playing at the moment it is eye-catching,” Carey noted.

“I know we will be really prepared. I’d like to think we aren’t surprised now (with) the way they’ll come out and play, so it is a matter of us backing our skills to combat that,” added Carey.