Josh Inglis will miss Australia’s three-match T20 tour of New Zealand after pulling a calf muscle during a straightforward running session in Perth on Tuesday. A scan 24 hours later confirmed the strain and the selectors moved quickly, calling up Alex Carey to take the gloves for the fixtures at Mount Maunganui on 1, 3 and 4 October.
The setback makes Inglis the fourth first-choice player scratched from this short trip. Pat Cummins is already resting a troublesome back, Cameron Green has been told to bank Sheffield Shield overs in preparation for the Ashes, and Nathan Ellis remains at home awaiting the birth of his first child.
“It’s frustrating but these things happen,” Inglis told ABC Radio on Thursday. “I felt a twinge, we checked it out, and there’s no point risking something worse for the sake of a week.”
Selectors had originally gambled on taking only one keeper, a decision that now looks optimistic. Carey was pencilled in for South Australia’s opening Shield match on 4 October but must instead fly across the Tasman. Depending on workloads he might squeeze in just one first-class hit-out before the ODI series against India starts in Perth on 19 October, and possibly only two before the Ashes opener in the same city two months later.
George Bailey, chair of selectors, admitted on SEN, “We liked the look of a tight, 14-man touring group, but you’re always one soft-tissue injury away from rewriting plans. Alex knows our systems back to front, so he was the obvious call.”
Carey’s recent T20 résumé is hardly eye-catching: one match in Cairns against South Africa in August – his first international in the format since mid-2021 and his first as keeper since 2020. Even that appearance owed much to circumstance: Inglis played game one in Darwin while battling illness and was sensibly rested for game two, handing Carey a one-off slot.
Those topsy-turvy selections have highlighted a broader juggling act. On the winter trip to the Caribbean, the panel again chose not to name a specialist reserve keeper. When fast bowler Spencer Johnson went down, Jake Fraser-McGurk – who has never kept in a professional match – was drafted as emergency cover. He ended up batting in the series opener, then made way once Glenn Maxwell moved to the top of the order.
Fraser-McGurk will next link up with Australia A in India, where he is expected to keep for the first time in a trio of 50-over games in Kanpur. “It’ll be a laugh if nothing else,” he joked to reporters last month. “But, honestly, I’ll stand wherever they want me.”
For Australia, replacing Inglis is not simply a matter of swapping gloves. Since slotting in at No. 3 he has peeled off two T20 hundreds and become the bridge between the new left-hand opening pair of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head and the mid-innings muscle of Maxwell and Tim David. A modest tour it may be, but in a World Cup cycle every rep counts.
Bailey conceded the loss changes the batting dynamics: “Josh’s tempo through overs seven to 14 has been vital. Alex offers leadership and calm, yet we may have to adjust the way we go about that middle phase.”
The silver lining is that Inglis should be fit for the home ODIs against India. Medical staff estimate a fortnight’s rehabilitation, leaving him on track for the series opener at Perth Stadium on 19 October. Should complication arise, Carey’s recall now doubles as insurance.
Calf strains are becoming a nuisance for the West Australian. He tweaked the same muscle while fielding as substitute during the Boxing Day Test last summer, an injury that ruled him out of the remainder of the Big Bash and threatened his eventual Test debut in Sri Lanka.
For now the focus is on New Zealand. Marsh continues as captain, and the squad – light on senior bowling options – will lean heavily on Sean Abbott, Jason Behrendorff and the spin of Maxwell and Adam Zampa. It remains an opportunity for fringe names to state a World Cup case, albeit without one of the first names on the modern T20 team sheet.
“Look, losing Josh isn’t ideal,” Marsh admitted at Perth Airport. “But it’s cricket. Someone else – probably Alex – gets a crack. We move on pretty fast these days.”
Fixtures
1 October: 1st T20I, Bay Oval
3 October: 2nd T20I, Bay Oval
4 October: 3rd T20I, Bay Oval
