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Key Takeaways
- 1📊 Nicola Carey has 27 T20Is and 23 ODIs under her belt for Australia
- 2🏆 Strong WBBL form has pushed her back into World Cup squad contention
- 3💡 Versatile bowling allrounder option to ease pressure on core stars
- 4🔮 Sustained league form could force a surprise 2026 World Cup recall
"The allrounder turned down a central contract in 2023 but has put together a strong run in T20 competitions"
A resurgent Nicola Carey has stormed back into the World Cup conversation, with former skipper Alex Blackwell calling for her shock recall as Australia look to refill an unusually bare global trophy cabinet.
Carey, now 32, hasn’t pulled on the green and gold since she turned down a central contract in 2023, choosing the certainty of a full pre-season at home over life as a travelling reserve. It looked, at the time, like a soft closing of the international chapter after 27 T20Is and 23 ODIs.
Domestic dominance forcing selectors' hand
Instead, the allrounder has quietly built one of the most reliable bodies of work in the WBBL, churning out runs in the middle order and delivering those nerveless late overs that first marked her out as a clutch operator. For a team suddenly feeling the absence of fresh silverware, that blend of experience and calm under pressure is exactly what World Cups demand.
Carey’s case is strengthened by the workload squeeze on Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner and Annabel Sutherland, who are juggling three formats, franchise leagues and leadership expectations. Slotting Carey into a World Cup squad as a flexible bowling allrounder would give Australia the tactical depth they have briefly seemed short of on slow, gripping surfaces.
Selection puzzle for Australia’s next era
This is not about sentiment. Australia’s rivals have caught up, and the aura of invincibility has taken a couple of dents since that golden run capped by the 2022 ODI World Cup. In that context, a proven allrounder who knows how to navigate tournament pressure – and has no fear of being the one with ball in hand at the death – is worth a hard look.
The selectors now have a classic Australian dilemma: back the incumbents to rediscover their peak, or reward a domestic heavyweight who walked away on her own terms and has done everything asked of her since. If Carey’s WBBL form holds, leaving her out of the next World Cup squad will be increasingly difficult to justify.
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