Bristol: Australian great Ian Healy has backed Alex Carey to have a strong World Cup but hopes there is no ill-timed injury to the only specialist wicketkeeper in the 15-man squad.
Carey, 27, is the least experienced gloveman of all those expected to have frontline roles among the 10 competing nations but despite having only 19 one-day internationals to his credit – the second least of any of his teammates – he is the team's vice-captain.
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That shows the strong leadership credentials he has, not to mention the selectors' faith that he will have a key role to play, whether that be behind the stumps or with bat in hand in the lower order when power-hitting may be required.
Heading into Saturday night's Cup opener against Afghanistan, Healy, the wicketkeeping great who took part in the 1992 and 1996 World Cups, said Carey was "dependable" and "class as a teamman".
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"He rarely plays in a team that is not successful which is a great sign," he said of the South Australian.
Carey is the only frontline gloveman with less than 50 one-day internationals to his credit, his relative inexperience on show when compared to the likes of M.S. Dhoni (341 ODIs), Jos Buttler (129) and Quinton de Kock (106), who will have major roles to play for their nations.
The former AFL hopeful with Greater Western Sydney has been used in five different batting spots in his brief tenure, including as an opener at home last summer, but has been settled at No.7 since the successful tour of India.
Overall, he has 429 runs at 30.6 but has a strong strike rate of 83.46 runs per 100 balls.
"We have expected too much of his batting. It has been under pressure but he has still done enough for mine with the bat and we are going to see further improvements with the bat. He is going to be good," Healy, who will be part of Nine's coverage of the World Cup, said.
In terms of Carey's glovework, Healy has been impressed, adding: "His glovework is excellent. He is a hard worker. His technique is good and he has got the ability to do that job very well as well."
The roles of each Australian player have been clearly defined heading into this Cup defence.
Carey has stressed he "knows what I've got to do to help this team and it's not just about myself, it's about the whole squad".
That involves clean glovework to pace and spin and batting according to the game situation.
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The Australians will also hope he remains fit and healthy, for there is no natural back-up for the selectors opted to overlook Peter Handscomb in favour of Steve Smith.
"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.
Should Carey be hurt during warm-ups, skipper Aaron Finch would most likely have to fill in, for he has subbed behind the stumps for the Melbourne Renegades and Victoria.
Another option could be David Warner, who deputised briefly for Brad Haddin during a Test in 2014.