“We don’t have heaps of those conversations,but I know he’s there for me and I’m there for him.”
When speaking publicly,Carey wears an amiable,smiling mask while specialising in the sorts of lightweight “grabs” common at the AFL press conferences he once expected to be part of as the inaugural captain of the GWS Giants.
But there is no doubting that the relentless abuse and focus of English ire after the Lord’s Test – including the false accusation peddled by former captain Alastair Cook that he had failed to pay for a haircut – had a marked effect.
Early in the tour,Carey and other numerous members of the squad had taken trains to save time on the road. But after Lord’s,Carey travelled only in the team bus or by car;a rare compromise in behaviour by a cricketer used to overwhelmingly friendly interactions in his hometown of Adelaide.
“As a team,we’ve had a couple of Ashes series in a row like that;you’re on the team bus,you travel together,” Head said.
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“A little bit different this year with the trains and that,but you’re in that bubble. So you try to stay connected in that bubble,you try not to let anyone in or out,and that’s how you approach things.
“With our relationship,we both enjoy the game and talk about the game,but I think he gets that enough from Marn[us Labuschagne] and Smudge[Steve Smith],so I try to take his mind off things with other things to talk about.”
Since the Ashes,Broad has walked back some of his angry rhetoric on the day,saying much of it was calculated to try to take Australia’s focus off closing out the match.
Bairstow has also had some spiky comments published about the stumping and his views of the Australian team. He and Carey shared a handshake after the World Cup game in Ahmedabad,but no conversation.
“I have seen it still being brought up,which is great;it’s a talking point,it’s awesome. But it is one of those things that will stay in cricket history for a while,” Carey said of Broad.
“Was I surprised he brought it back up? No,he’s in commentary as well now,so it’s stuff to talk about.
“For me,it[my focus] is worry about doing my job behind the stumps,try to score runs and help us win games of cricket,and that’s as deeply as I’m thinking about it.
“We would’ve loved to win that Ashes series,but we retained the Ashes,so the group is in a pretty good place to continue to keep that momentum up.”
Unusually for an Australian team that has developed a forceful sense of self,Carey is a deferential character who has kept up plenty of dialogue with past players and former wicketkeepers. His focused work with Di Venuto and Flower has brought him back to a place where he is determined to dictate terms when he bats.
“At the time,I was surprised to get dropped,[but] I was able to pick my game apart and work with some new faces and different minds in the game,” Carey said. “Having Andy Flower over there,he’s a fantastic bloke,and working with Michael Di Venuto as well was great.
“Just different ways to look at the game,certain areas to score. He[Flower] played the reverse sweep and the sweep,and we spoke a bit about that. My self-belief’s always been really strong. All I can do is control what I can do,and continue to prepare and find ways to get better.”
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Head,for one,is expecting a much more decisive Carey this summer. “I’m expecting him to play really well,” he said. “Hopefully,the batters up the top can set some good platforms for him to come out and express himself.”
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