Follow UsWe might still be six weeks away from the Ashes, but the traditional pre-season chatter has already begun. After Stuart Broad's recent comments, it was Alex Carey's turn to set the ball rolling for the Aussies.
"We've heard some stuff in the media what the wickets and boundaries might be like, and the way England are playing at the moment it is eye-catching," Carey told SEN radio.
"I'd like to think we aren't surprised now with the way they'll come out and play."
Bazball seems to have captured everyone's imagination the world over, but Carey feels that the Aussies aren't too bothered by it. He felt that an aggressive approach might have worked for England, but they will stick to what's worked for them.
"The tactical stuff will start to take place over the next couple of weeks but I don't see us falling into our batters going out and trying to score the same rate. We'll do it differently, we've had some serious success in the last 18-24 months playing the style we want to play in different conditions and lucky enough to be rewarded with a spot in the World Test Championship final. So we are excited to come over to their backyard and take on a team that's playing some really eye-catching cricket. As a player, it's going to be a hot contest and I'm smiling just thinking about that first Test."
Currently, a few of the Ashes squad members are participating in the IPL and county cricket, and the remaining are training back home in Australia. They will increase their training intensity later this month with a camp in Brisbane, and will depart for the Ashes in late May. This will also give them a couple of weeks' time to prepare for the WTC final, which is scheduled to being on June 7.
"We'll all come together before that World Test Championship and have our focus solely on that game but with an eye to the first Ashes Test match," Carey said.
This will the Aussie wicket-keeper's first Ashes tour, and he couldn't be more excited about it. Although, he has played in England before in limited-overs cricket. He was a part of the 2019 ICC World Cup squad, and also played in the 2020 ODI series between the two teams.
But, this will his first proper shot at red-ball cricket in England. He's gearing up for the wicket-keeping challenge, and the conditions won't make it any easy.
"It's hard to train for the wobble that we as keepers know comes down and we make it look a bit silly at times if we don't get a hand on it," he said.
"For me, just staying really open-minded knowing there'll be days when it doesn't look pretty. You see some of the techniques of the English keepers and it's completely different to the Aussies.
"I think adapting as quickly as I can when I get over there, hopefully will have some centre-wickets and catch a few balls from our bowlers, then from there hopefully just react well enough that if one does wobble that I move to that, see it and catch it. But it's a really good point and probably something as cricket fans you expect the wicketkeepers to make it look easy at times, but it wobbles down and you are like 'what are you doing' but it's all part of the fun."