Cricket is going to be different in post COVID-19 world: Alex Carey

“But I feel the fans will at least have some live cricket to look forward to on TV, and I can promise it’s still going to be some solid cricket which the fans are going to love,” added the left-hander.

Cricket is not going to be the same in the post COVID-19 world and playing in empty stadiums would be a “hollow feeling” but Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey is ready to embrace the “new normal”.

Carey is open to the idea of playing in empty stadiums, which according to him could be a way forward.

“Cricket as we’re used to is going to be different for a bit. There’s the T20 World Cup and the IPL that we’re all looking to play, but it’s hard to picture anything without the fans. It’s going to be a hollow feeling,” said the Delhi Capitals player during an Instagram live session with his IPL team.

“But I feel the fans will at least have some live cricket to look forward to on TV, and I can promise it’s still going to be some solid cricket which the fans are going to love,” added the left-hander.

Sporting activities, including cricket, are currently shut due to the cornavirus-forced lockdown but Carey is in no mood to let dust settle in his skills and has been working towards that in this break.

“I’ve been aiming at going for a 10K run thrice a week, along with shorter sprints, which helps me in maintaining my fitness levels. I’ve also been working with a golf ball in my backyard to keep my hand-eye coordination intact,” said Carey.

“As cricketers, we live, dream and breathe the sport. It has been a good experience to have a month or so off which has helped us recharge our batteries. But I feel when things open up, we will have really good cricket. It will only take a couple of weeks for us to play at the top level,” said Carey, adding that he can’t wait to make his IPL debut.

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After starting his sporting career with the Australian rules football, Carey switched back to playing full-time cricket, and says he is lucky to have made the decision.

“I had some success at AFL, but I wasn’t quite excelling. I thought I wasn’t good enough, and so I went back to cricket when I was 20 or 21. There were a couple of years I didn’t play cricket at all when I was busy with AFL, so I was rusty when I came back,” he said.

“But by 24, I got back into cricket and into the standard that I would’ve liked to play. I put in some hard yards, and I feel I’m really fortunate that I made that decision to play cricket because I got to represent Australia.”