In the second ODI match played at Headingley, the Australian team badly defeated England. With this, he has taken a 2-0 lead in the 5-match ODI series. Alex Carey was the biggest hero of Australia’s victory. He was also adjudged player of the match. Carey is the same player whose life was made difficult by England fans after his controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Headingley during the 2023 Ashes. A lot of good and bad was said about her family and they were teased a lot during the series. 14 months after this incident, Kerry again took to the Handingly ground. He was welcomed this time like last year. However, this Australian wicketkeeper batsman gave a jaw-dropping response to the England fans with his tremendous performance.
Carey responded with bat and mouth
Alex Carey last came to bat at Headingley during the 2023 Ashes series. Then he could score only 8 runs in one innings and 5 runs in the second innings. England fans jeered him after his controversial stumping saw him dismissed early. This time too, when he stepped out to bat, he was greeted with banter. However, the gap left in the Ashes this time was filled by Alex Carey. He responded with both bat and mouth. Earlier he played a match winning innings of 74 runs off 67 balls.
Then when he became the player of the match, he said during an interview that he already knew about it and this time he came fully prepared. Once the innings started, he started focusing on batting. This has now become a permanent thing for them. In a recent interview, he said that a ‘personal attack’ on his family was not appropriate, regarding the teasing by England fans.
What was the matter of stumping?
During the second Test of the Ashes series in July 2023, Alex Carey dismissed Bairstow for just 10 runs. Then the England team was chasing a target of 371 runs. He did this stumping when Bairstow took the ball outside the dead crease. According to the rules of cricket this stumping was correct and he was given out. However, England fans believed he was unstoppable. Also, in the spirit of the game, stumping is not justified. Bairstow’s dismissal changed the whole series along with the match. Australia won this match played at Headingley by 43 runs. The next match was won to level the series at 2-2.
Was out for 1 year, now won the match
Alex Carey was not part of Australia’s ODI squad for almost a year. He played his last ODI against India in October 2023 before the England series. Carey last played for Australia in March 2024 during the New Zealand Test series. That means he was not even a part of the team for 6 months. Now they got their chance and as soon as Kerry arrived, they put victory in Australia’s bag. When he came to bat at Headingley, his team was struggling at 151 for the loss of 5 wickets. Even after this, the sequence of wickets continued.
The team lost 9 wickets on a score of 221 runs. A score of 250 seemed difficult to reach in such conditions. Carey then shared an important partnership of 49 runs with Josh Hazlewood for the 10th wicket. Hazlewood scored only 4 runs in this. Due to this partnership, the Australian team managed to score 270 runs. Later, the rest of the bowlers, including Mitchell Starc, wreaked havoc on the English batsmen and bowled them out for 202 runs to win the match by 68 runs. While Carey played an innings of 74 runs in 67 balls. Australia was able to win only because of his innings.
