Australia wicketkeeper batter Alex Carey has said he’s ready to bat at No.5 in Test cricket, like if the team wants him to do that role, no dramas. Australia, they’re hunting for a longer term middle order answer, so Carey has basically made it clear he’d move up in the batting lineup.

 

The selectors are expected to name the squad for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh later this week. It gets underway in Darwin, then it moves to Mackay. And yeah one of the big issues is, who’s going to take that No.5 batting spot once the batting order starts shifting about.

 

Carey is one of the names being considered along with Cameron Green, Josh Inglis and Matt Renshaw.

 

Carey happy to bat wherever Australia needs him

 

The left handed batter has been in really good nick with the bat. In his last 18 Test innings he’s been averaging close to 50, and he also looked sharp when he was batting at No.6 in the recent Ashes.

 

Carey said he’s fine playing any part for Australia, though he did admit he’d probably enjoy it more batting higher, if the chance comes.

 

Alex Carey said:

 

"I bat five for South Australia (but) to be honest, if I'm playing, wherever they put me, I'm really grateful for that opportunity," Carey said to cricket.com.au.

"I enjoyed my time at number six through the Ashes. There's some really classy top order batters around the country and in our squad as well."

"If I was asked to bat higher, I'd love to do that.

"But there are great options that are playing some really good cricket as well. I also love coming in six and seven after the top order do all the hard work."

 

Carey already has experience at No.5 for South Australia, and he’s also played in that spot in one day cricket

 

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Australia open to changing traditional batting order

 

Head coach Andrew McDonald and captain Pat Cummins have shown they’ll happily mix and match batting combos. McDonald has previously said Carey could work at No.5, while Cummins thinks batting positions don’t have to be locked in forever

 

Carey said the current setup is open to fresh ideas.

 

He added:

 

"That's probably the beauty of the way that 'Ronnie' (McDonald) and Patty and all the selectors sort of think about the game.

"It can be different from one game to the next. It can be different from one innings to the next as well. It's a group of players that are open to lots of different situations."

 

Last year, Carey made a career best 156 against Sri Lanka, after batting at No.5. Earlier this year too, he put up 103 from that same slot in the Sheffield Shield final.

 

Carey dismisses concerns over keeping and batting higher

 

Some people think wicketkeepers should bat lower, because keeping for long spells is pretty gruelling physically. Carey doesn’t really buy that.

 

He further said:

 

"I've never really thought about it like that," he said. "Whenever you get the chance to bat, you switch on and focus. The same with wicketkeeping.

"When you're batting at seven, you want to be batting with the tail and be the last man out , and then you go straight out to keeping. So do you get your rest earlier or do you get it later? It doesn't really matter.

"My game is to contribute with the bat and behind the stumps, the physical side of it doesn't really come into my mind."

 

With those solid recent outings, and the confidence he’s carrying with the bat, Alex Carey has now put forward a convincing argument to become Australia’s new No.5 as the team gets ready for a big Test stretch.