WI v AUS 2021: Alex Carey to lead Australia in 1st ODI against West Indies

Regular captain Aaron Finch has aggravated his right knee injury.

Cricket Australia announced that Alex Carey will lead Australia in 1st ODI against the West Indies. This comes after regular captain Aaron Finch aggravated the knee injury he picked in the fifth T20I against the same opponents. Cricket Australia said his availability for the second and third ODIs will be assessed on a daily basis.

Alex Carey, who has been a vice-captain previously, will become Australia’s 26^th ODI captain. He is taking over the responsibility in the absence of vice-captain Pat Cummins and other senior players like Steve Smith and David Warner.

"I am deeply honored to be able to lead the team while Aaron recovers," said Carey, who has previously captained Australia A, the Adelaide Strikers, and South Australia.

"To captain Australia is one of the greatest privileges in sport and honor I am extremely thankful to receive. Finchy is our captain and we will welcome him back with open arms when he is fully fit, so for now I hope I can fill the role to his extremely high standards,” he added.

The wicket-keeper batsman will lead a young side including three uncapped players. Josh Phillipe, Ben McDermott, and Riley Meredith are all in the line for their Australian ODI debuts.

Alex Carey has played 42 ODI matches for Australia and has scored just over 1000 runs at an average of 36.37. The three-match ODI series is set to begin on Wednesday, 21 July. All the matches will be played Barbados

(Inputs: NDTV Sports)