Dubai: Former Australia wicket-keeper batsman Ian Healy on Thursday said that he expects incumbent Alex Carey to perform well in the Cricket World Cup.
“Carey rarely plays in a team that is not successful, which is a great sign,” International Cricket Council (ICC) quoted Healy as saying.
Carey currently averages 30.64 with the bat and has scored 429 runs in the ODI format for Australia.
The 27-year-old Carey has batted in five different positions in 17 ODI innings and he has made one fifty in those many innings.
“We have expected too much of his batting. It has been under pressure, but he has still done enough for me with the bat, and we are going to see further improvements. He is going to be good,” Healey added.
Australia’s selectors have only named Carey as a wicket-keeper batsman in the fifteen-member squad for the World Cup.
There is no back-up wicket-keeper batsman in the squad and Healy said that it is the only worrying sign for the team heading into the World Cup. Peter Handscomb was seen as the potential back-up wicket-keeper batsman, but he was not named in the final squad of fifteen.
“That is our one weak point. If Alex goes down in warm-ups, Peter would have been good as a back-up in the middle too,” Healy said.
Australia’s updated 15-member team for the World Cup: Australia’s squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
Australia won their both warm-up matches ahead of the upcoming Cricket World Cup. In the first warm-up fixture England, they won by 12 runs whereas against Sri Lanka, the Aussies won by five wickets.
Australia takes on Afghanistan in their first match of the World Cup on June 1 at Bristol.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]