Former Test keeper Adam Gilchrist gave a ringing endorsement of Australia’s latest glovesman in an emotional exchange on the first morning of the Ashes series.
Gilchrist was on hand to present Alex Carey with his baggy green, making him the 461st man to play Test cricket for Australia, and just the 34th wicketkeeper.
“You deserve this, rest assured you deserve this,” Gilchrist said.
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“There is absolutely no way that these are given out lightly.”
As the squad gathered ahead of day one’s action, Gilchrist praised Carey’s decision to switch back to cricket from Aussie rules football in 2012.
“It’s been a courageous journey – you walked away from one journey and courageously resumed another dream, and here you are fulfilling that dream today,” he said.
“I think when I reflect on my cap presentation when I received it, I reflected on the journey and all those people who have committed so much to getting me to that situation – and I know that you’ll do that.”
Carey beat the likes of Josh Inglis, Jimmy Peirson and Matthew Wade to get the nod behind the stumps after Tim Paine stepped down last month.
Gilchrist said that as long as Carey kept his head down and focused on his cricket without getting carried away, the public would embrace him.
“The prime thing about this cap is there’s a lot of value placed on this – but not for a moment is there any sense of entitlement that comes with it,” he said.
“It doesn’t make you any more special than anyone else in society, but what I will say is that if you play with humility, if you play with integrity, honesty, and complete committment to this group of people here – and I know that you will – and a sense of fun, the people in society will ride with you through the highs and probably more importantly, when the lows and challenges come, they’ll pick you up and carry you.”
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