‘I need straight answers cliches do not interest me’

England batsman Michael Carberry is bitter about not being picked for the England Twenty20 and ODI teams.

Donald McRae, The Guardian /LondonMichael Carberry smiles wryly as he explains how he shocked himself while turning towards an uncertain future. As a 33-year-old, and still new, Test cricketer preparing for yet another season in a sport which can make even the best players feel lonely and vulnerable, Carberry is trying to secure a future career path by learning how to become an electrician. “I’ve given myself a couple of belts, mate,” he says with a throaty chuckle when admitting he has been zapped by the electrical hazards of his apprenticeship. “But you’re not a spark until you’ve done that.” Yet England’s cricket hierarchy, rather than any faulty electrical connection, has given Carberry his most jolting hurt and disillusionment.  Carberry, England’s second-highest run-scorer behind Kevin Pietersen in the disastrous Ashes series, speaks quietly but his plain words have a strong impact when he details some simple truths about the way the management have treated him and other players in their squad. The opening batsman starts by suggesting that his absence from England’s one-day team, and the Twenty20 World Cup squad, “gave me time to reflect and get that anger out. Now I want to come back with Hampshire. They’re my focus.” It could have been different. Carberry faced more balls and spent more time at the crease during the Ashes than any other England batsman.  He was admirably composed against a hostile Australian attack led by Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris  scoring more than 30 on six occasions.  Yet, even if he batted for over six hours longer than his opening partner and captain Alastair Cook, Carberry’s Ashes average was only marginally better  28.1 compared with 24.60. He is also not about to make any grandiose claims for himself. When the 695 balls he faced are mentioned, Carberry quips: “I wish they had been runs.” His dilemma is clear. Just as he scored 30 and 34 on his Test debut for England in 2010, against Bangladesh, he failed to turn impressive starts in the Ashes into significant scores. He hit only one half-century and concedes that he needs to score more heavily as a Test opener. He was at his best in his final innings in Sydney when he batted with real freedom. “Something clicked. Maybe through the series I played to the situation. Obviously if we lost Alastair early or we were two down, and you’re 500 runs behind, you think: ‘Let’s try and weather the storm.’ “I’ve come back to Hampshire and I’m excited about the next phase of my career, knowing what I need to do to dominate. I know that, technically, I’m good enough to survive. But survival is not batting. You’re there to score runs.” Carberry expresses concern that, like Pietersen, he is about to be jettisoned. “I’m sitting here disappointed I’m not involved in the one-day setup. I seem to have been left out for some unknown reason. I don’t think it’s a cricket reason because my one-day stats speak for themselves over the last few seasons. So I’m disappointed the selectors haven’t fronted up and spoken to me.” Has Carberry heard anything from England since returning home? “No. Nothing  which is disappointing. But it’s the way they tend to do things.” Carberry shakes his head in the empty nets at Hampshire’s ground. “It’s obvious that since the tour ended some very, very strange decisions have been made. But even in Australia [during the limited-over series when England were beaten in eight out of nine matches] I sat there game after game, watching us lose, thinking: ‘What more can I do to get in the squad?’  bearing in mind that I was without doubt the leading batsman in one-day cricket last year. “I think my last score playing for England in ODI cricket was 63 in winning a game in Cardiff we shouldn’t have won against Australia [Carberry followed up that knock with another 30 against the same opposition].  To suddenly be on the sidelines, not getting a game, just didn’t make any sense.” Did he ask anyone for an explanation? “I had a brief chat with Ashley Giles [England’s limited-overs coach] during the fifth ODI in Adelaide and his response was that he didn’t really know. If you don’t know, mate, I sure as hell won’t know.” Carberry’s rueful laugh turns into a shrug. “It’s that age-old word: man-management. I’ve accepted over my short and breezy England career that that’s the way the selectors tend to do things. I wouldn’t say I’ve been in the loop when it comes to why I’ve been left out. I’ve had to try and work it out for myself which, again, is disappointing.” He clearly believes that, with Giles in the running to become the head coach in all formats, England’s man-management needs drastic improvement.  “It’s been an ongoing thing for years. I don’t think it’s something that’s going to change immediately. They have a way of doing things.  “I’ve been in the game a long time and you know some guys get given a shorter rope than others. I’m probably going to be a bit controversial here but throughout my England career, even as a schoolboy, I’ve always had that shorter rope  for some reason. I don’t think much has changed now that I’ve stepped into the Test and one-day arena. I’m not going to hide my emotions. I was bitterly disappointed. “You don’t mind if it’s a winning team because you understand then why you’re not playing. There’s obviously a winning formula and they’re sticking with it. But when you’re watching a team getting beaten I couldn’t quite understand why I didn’t fit into the plans. I played a warm-up game in Alice Springs and batted in my natural way and got a quick-fire 47.” “At the age I am, I need straight answers. To be told I’m on the radar or being talked about? All these lip-service cliches don’t interest me any more,” Carberry reiterates. Do other players in England’s squad share his disenchantment? “I don’t think it’s me alone saying this sort of thing. “There’ve been players before me and current players now who have felt the same thing. It’s fine when you’re in the team but just outside the playing squad you’re not really sure if you fit in at all.” Does Carberry fear for his future in international cricket if Giles takes complete charge and also becomes England’s Test coach? “Leaving Adelaide after our brief chat, I’ve got to be honest, it didn’t fill me with a great deal of optimism. I feel that this is a question he should have answered. And, OK, if it’s not him answering, it should be one of the  selectors. But that that’s the way England like to do things. It disappoints me because I’m quite an approachable guy. Maybe I’m a bit straight-talking but it’s the best way to be in this world say what’s on your mind.” It will be hard to recover from his jolting disappointments with England, but Carberry is resilient. His future life, as an electrician, will have to wait. “I’ve played some of my best cricket over the last few years. “So I’m looking at the next five years. Hopefully I can finish with a pretty good career that people can look back on and say: ‘Well, OK, he may not have had a lot of opportunities at international level but I certainly enjoyed watching him play.’”