Alex Carey shares captaincy ambition, says he’s ‘hungry to win’ ODI World Cup

With Pat Cummins’ long term future as Australian cricket captain unclear, a forgotten candidate has put his hand up to be the next skipper.

Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey says he would “love to captain the country” if the opportunity arose, revealing he is desperate to win the upcoming ODI World Cup.

Carey became public enemy No. 1 in England for his controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow in the Ashes, which continues to infuriate the Poms.

The 32-year-old has found his feet in Australia’s Test and One Day sides and is now a fixture behind the stumps, scoring his maiden Test century last summer and improving his glovework.

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Carey first endeared himself to the Australian public four years ago at the 2019 ODI World Cup, when the mummified keeper pushed through a bloody blow to give Australia a sniff in the semi-final against England.

Now entrenched in the team, Carey is one of just a handful of players in Australia’s squad who haven’t played in either the 2015 ODI World Cup or 2021 T20 World Cup triumphs.

Of Australia’s likely best XI, Carey, Cameron Green and Travis Head are the only ones yet to lift a World Cup trophy.

“I’m really hungry to win a World Cup,” Carey told news.com.au.

“I feel like four years ago we were close to that ultimate success. To win a World Test Championship this year, we retained the Ashes and personally, I’m really, really keen to try and win a One Day World Cup.

Alex Carey’s gusty knock in the 2019 World Cup cemented his spot in the Australian side. (Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP)

“You hear so many great memories and stories from players in our team that have won one, and I’d love to be apart of that.

“We performed pretty well last time in England, getting through to the semis and lost to the eventual winners in England.

“I feel like this group has got a lot more experience since then. There’s been some big changes in captain in Aaron Finch (retiring) but I feel like we’ve got that core of players still together. Playing in India is exciting enough but throw in a World Cup, it’s going to be amazing.”

Carey believes the Australians have the experience and confidence needed to win the ODI World Cup in India, which gets underway on October 5.

“This group’s really hungry for success in all formats,” he said.

“I feel like we’ve performed really strongly in all formats over the last few years. There’s a World Test Championship in there, a World Cup eight years ago, there’s a T20 World Cup. We’re keen to win another one as Australians.

“There’s a lot to play for. There’s some new faces in this group that hasn’t won a One Day World Cup. We’re itching to do so.

“I also feel like we travel pretty well to India. Our success over there has been pretty good. I’ve played in two series and been able to win two of them against India.

“We have a lot of experience in the Indian conditions with IPL players amongst our group.”

Could Carey be the man to take over the captaincy from Pat Cummins? (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Mitch Marsh has taken over the T20 captaincy from Aaron Finch, while Pat Cummins has hinted he won’t stay captain of the ODI and Test sides for the rest of his career.

Tim Paine showed a wicketkeeper can competently captain Australia and Carey’s temperament would arguably be well suited to being Australia’s next skipper.

“We’ve got so many leaders around this group, whoever gets that honour of captaining the country, they’ll have a lot of amazing voices and support around them,” he said.

“Is it something that I’d want to do? Yeah, I’d love to captain the country, for sure. I feel like I’ve continued to improve my leadership skills over a number of years now.

“But is it something I’m asking to do? Nah, it’s not. It’s probably one of those roles — the captain doesn’t need to speak too loudly to put his hand up, it normally finds its way to them.

“Patty has done a fantastic job in making it pretty seamless over all three formats in the change of leadership over the last few years.”

Carey, a Daffodil Ambassador, has needed a level head on his shoulders as he comes to terms with his father Gordon’s battle against leukaemia, which prevented his dad from attending his Test debut.

Daffodil Day ambassador Alex Carey wants to raise funds for cancer research. Photo: Supplied.

Carey’s dad Gordon (right) is battling leukemia. Photo: Supplied.

Gordon’s outlook has improved thanks to new treatment Carey is extremely thankful for, and he wants to build hope for cancer sufferers and help raise crucial funds for the type of research that helped save his dad’s life.

“I think it’s fair to say if they hadn’t have found it, things could have been different for dad,” Carey said of a new drug that has successfully targeted Gordon’s leukaemia.

“Any cancer is obviously a horrible thing for patients and families to have to go through.

“Our experience was made a bit easier with certain treatments dad was able to access.

“That’s come through the funding of certain charities and Daffodil Day is a huge one that is able to tackle and raise funds to find cures and all sorts of medication that can improve quality of life for patients and families that are impacted.

“My message is don’t wait until it’s someone too close to understand what’s behind these charities.

“Get on the front foot and donate whatever you can to and raise awareness for organisations like Daffodil Day and Cancer Council to raise funds, find cures and hopefully improve qualify of life for patients and families.”

To find out more about Daffodil Day, find a Daffodil stall near you or donate, please visit daffodilday.com.au or you can donate to Alex Carey’s own fundraiser at bit.ly/alex-carey