Alex Carey’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s had caused quite a stir. However, Carey has made it clear that if the chance arises, he will not hesitate to effect an encore.
During an intense final day’s cricket in the second Test match of the 2023 Ashes, at Lord’s, Jonny Bairstow ducked under a bouncer from Cam Green, assumed the ball had been dead, and left the crease.
By then, wicketkeeper Alex Carey had hit the stumps. The umpires ruled Bairstow out stumped.
The Lord’s crowd booed the Australians. At the tea interval, some MCC members had a go at Usman Khawaja, and were subsequently suspended. The controversy continued, and even United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak weighed in.
The Guardian has now quoted Carey, who, in his first interview on the subject, assured that he would not let the opportunity of an encore go: “If there was an opportunity to get a stumping, I definitely would.”
“We were switched on to the fact that it was a bouncer plan and it felt like Jonny was pretty switched on to getting out of the way, he wasn’t playing any shots,” Carey said.
He added: “When he ducked, his first movement was pretty much out of his crease. So instinctively I grabbed the ball, threw the stumps down and the rest is history. As soon as I got it, I threw it straight away.”
Carey also found the outburst “a little bit surprising.”
He recollected an incident from his Adelaide A grade cricket debut: “I was out that way, and when I walked off, I was pretty disappointed. Captain came up to me, he said, ‘You’ll remember to keep your foot behind the line next time’.
“From my point of view, I wasn’t called on it about the spirit of cricket when I tried to do it previously. And when I was given out in the same sort of manner, I didn’t question it either.”
Ben Hook, Carey’s captain from that day, put his weight behind his former ward in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald: “I can’t specifically recall that incident, but from very early on I was always struck by Alex’s impeccable approach to playing the game with principles.”
“I distinctly remember a trial game where Alex walked out to bat and immediately admonished a slips cordon full of experienced players for using too much foul language. He was 15 at the time.
“Across 20 years of grade cricket I had a lot of teammates, and a few of them deserved to be booed for their on-field antics. But in Alex Carey, England’s got the wrong guy.”
Australia had taken a 2-0 lead with the win at Lord’s, but England pulled one back with a three-wicket win at Headingley. To retain the Ashes urn, England have to win both the remaining Test matches, at Old Trafford from July 19, and at the Kia Oval from July 27.
