George Bailey insists Alex Carey has not lost his status as Australia's next first-choice wicketkeeper despite Josh Inglis bolting into the Twenty20 World Cup squad at his expense.
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Bailey on Thursday unveiled Inglis as the shock pick in his first squad as head selector, naming the 26-year-old in Australia's 15-man squad for the T20 tournament in the UAE and Oman.
Steve Smith is back with Cricket Australia confident his elbow will be pain-free and back to full fitness for the first game against South Africa on October 23.
Josh Hazelwood and Mitch Marsh are the other big winners, named off the back of being two shining lights in horror tours of Bangladesh and the West Indies without Australia's IPL stars.
But it's the selection of Inglis as Matthew Wade's back-up, ahead of both Carey and Josh Philippe, that has raised the most eyebrows.
The Perth Scorchers ace has never played for Australia in any format but has impressed as the leading run-scorer in England's T20 blast with 531 at an average of 48.27 and strike-rate of 175.82.
"I fully appreciate the bolter look about it but he's certainly someone we've had our eye on for some time," Bailey said.
"His performances in not just T20 but all three formats have been really impressive.
"In terms of guys who have batted at the top and shifted into the middle, his transformation into a middle-order player last year for the Scorchers was seamless."
The call would have, however, come as a shock to Carey, who captained Australia in the one-day series against West Indies with Aaron Finch injured.
Carey is also considered as the successor to Tim Paine behind the stumps in Test cricket, as well as a potential future captain in that arena.
"With Alex, it's just based on performances and I want to be really distinct in separating one-day cricket and T20 here," Bailey said.
"Even on this most recent tour his one-day cricket has been fantastic and I was highly impressed with the way he played and led the team in pretty challenging circumstances.
"We see him playing a lot more games of cricket for Australia and having a really big role in the culture of the team and the leadership of the team going forward."
Australia's T20 woes in the Caribbean and Bangladesh have also resulted in several other players missing their shot at the World Cup.
Moises Henriques and Ashton Turner are gone despite featuring in Australia's team at times in recent years.
Dan Christian's fairytale return is now reduced to being a travelling reserve while Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith and AJ Tye were overlooked.
That has opened the door for Glenn Maxwell, David Warner, Pat Cummins, Marcus Stoinis and Kane Richardson to all return in hunt of Australia's first major T20 trophy.
AUSTRALIA'S T20 WORLD CUP SQUAD: Aaron Finch (capt), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams.
Australian Associated Press
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