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Australia wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey is not interested in specialising in long-form work, although he is hoping for another Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) hundred when hosts take on Pakistan in the second Test, saying that "plenty of ODI and T20 cricket is still left in him."
After reaching his first Test century at the MCG at the start of 2023, he faced obstacles in front of and behind the wickets in India, where his glovework reached new heights. Although Carey is focused on repeating his incredible performance on Boxing Day from a year ago, he acknowledges that he is also planning to make a push in the upcoming months to be called back for white-ball cricket. One of the left-hander's most cherished moments is his maiden century against South Africa at the MCG last summer, which was made possible by his close friend Cameron Green sticking by him despite having a broken finger. Aside from two memorable half-centuries in the World Test Championship final and the opening Ashes Test, Carey's batting statistics have since declined. After the Melbourne Test, he has amassed 404 runs at 23.76 in 18 Test innings. The wicketkeeper-batter wants to play short-form cricket because he isn't satisfied with being a long-form specialist. "I feel like that is battling, some ups and downs, that's going to happen at certain times," Carey was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. Carey thinks he was in fantastic form during the past 12 months, but his form declined at the wrong time, making it difficult for him to get into the World Cup squad. "I still feel like I've had some pretty solid performances over the last 12 months in one-day cricket. The timings of the leaner trot led to that decision (to drop him at the World Cup) from the selection panel. But absolutely I feel like I've got a lot of one-day cricket and T20 cricket still left in me," Carey said. The 32-year-old is eager to try and gain further T20 experience during the off-season and has no intention of concentrating only on red-ball cricket. "I haven't been able to play a lot of T20 cricket - which has been good, of course, you're playing Test cricket - but would love to get the opportunity to play some more T20 cricket during the winter wherever that may be," said the wicketkeeper-batter. The wicketkeeper-batter is a part of Australia's 13-player squad for the upcoming Boxing Day Test against Pakistan in Melbourne, starting from Tuesday. Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc and David Warner. (ANI)
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