Carey eyes T20WC spot after return to Australia’s setup
The all-rounder is looking to make the most of her opportunity and make a mark for the team.
Australia all-rounder Nicola Carey has set her sights on securing a place in the Aussies' squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in June as she continues her comeback to the team after a spell away from the side.
Carey, a proven performer who was crucial to Australia’s succesful campaigns at the T20 World Cup in 2020 and the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in 2022, had spent time away from the national setup before earning a recall during the recent home series.
Retained for the Caribbean tour, she has fully embraced her reintegration into the side.
"I obviously haven't been here for a while, but coming back in, there's a lot of familiar faces, which is always nice," Carey said ahead of the ODI series against West Indies.
"When you’re out of it, you sit back and think, I don’t know how they do it, not being at home that often. But when you’re in it, you just do it. It’s quite fun being around the group."
With the T20 World Cup fast approaching, Carey’s motivation to remain a fixture in the squad is palpable.
"It’s a massive tournament. Everyone here would want to be a part of that. That’s the carrot dangling at the end of this. Everyone’s trying to put their best foot forward. I’m sure we’ll find out soon,” she said.
Australia underlined their credentials for the tournament with a clinical 3–0 sweep of the T20I series and will now switch their focus to the ODI series, their final assignment ahead of the marquee tournament.
The ODI series will see Australia be without star all-rounder Annabel Sutherland, who is missing the tour to manage her heavy workload. That absence, however, will see the door open for veteran players like Carey to prove their mettle and take on unfamiliar roles.
"Belsy (Sutherland) is massive for this team and when you take her out, that sort of leaves a couple of gaps, both batting and bowling," she explained.
"There’s that many all-rounders floating around, so I guess that’s opportunities for different people to step up. It's been nice to sort of try different things and open the bowling. You haven't done a lot of that even back home, so it's been cool to experience different things within this team,” she added.
As Australia transitions from the T20Is into their 50-over series in St Kitts, Carey feels the team’s plans are coming together nicely.
"It’s nice to change up the location here in St Kitts, obviously coming off the back of those three T20Is," Carey reflected on the team's evolution.
"There’s a fair bit we can take out of that. We had a lot of discussion around how we wanted to go about it. I think we saw that come to fruition, which was really pleasing to see,” she added.
Australia play West Indies in the first ODI on Friday and would like to carry the form they showed in their 3-0 series victory over India at home before they shift their focus to the T20 format with the Women’s T20 World Cup.