Jason Gillespie backs Alex Carey to become Australia's ODI skipper

With Aaron Finch announcing his retirement from ODIs, the Australian Cricket Board is in search of a captain who can take the team forward in this format. While Finch will still be available to play in the T20 format, he has called it quits from the longer version of the white-ball format.

Former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie has backed wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey to take up the job as he is of the opinion that the stumper will be good captaincy material.

Responding to a question asked by a Twitter user, Gillespie wrote, “Not sure which way CA will go, but I’d love to see Alex Carey given a crack at it.”

Aaron Finch's torrid run in the fifty-over format

Finch had a torrid time off late in the ODIs. His decision to step down came at a time when the team was building towards the fifty-over World Cup, to be played in India next year. Even in the last match of his ODI career, he was castled through the gate, a sight which we have gotten familiar with in the last few months.

Now coming to Carey, his captaincy has seen its fair share of challenges after being elevated to the vice-captaincy post of the limited overs side way back in 2018. This was when former Australian coach Justin Langer wanted to adopt a multiple vice-captain model for the national side, taking a leaf out of the AFL model.

First taste of a captaincy role for Alex Carey

Carey was stripped of the vice-captaincy in just 24 months' time when Pat Cummins was unanimously elected to be Finch's deputy. He admitted that he was hurt by the decision but got the backing from his own teammates which made him believe that nothing had changed.

"When I was given the news, it was made pretty clear how I was still held amongst the group," he said during an interview with cricket.com.au about an year back.

"For me, nothing has really changed over the last 12 months, understanding a lot of guys got some opportunities to vice-captain the team,” he had added.

He eventually captained the national side for an ODI series against West Indies last year in the absence of Aaron Finch, who was nursing a knee injury. He led Australia to a 2-1 series victory.