Alex Carey will walk through the Lord’s Pavilion’s Long Room for the first time since last year’s infamous Ashes Test when Australia faces England for Thursday’s fourth ODI.
The Australian wicketkeeper’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow prompted ugly scenes in the Long Room last year, with the MCC banning three members following the incident.
England supporters targeted Carey for the remainder of the tour; his form with bat and gloves dwindled as the series progressed. A few months later, he was dropped from the national one-day team during the World Cup in India, making way for West Australian wicketkeeper Josh Inglis.
However, Carey returns to Lord’s this week in blistering form, top-scoring for the tourists during the previous two ODIs at Headingley and the Riverside Ground. The left-hander, booed by the Leeds crowd when he walked out to bat last week, rescued Australia with a gritty 74 before smacking an unbeaten 77 in Chester-le-Street on Tuesday.
His previous knock at international level was his unbeaten 98 during March’s second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch, helping Australia chase an awkward 279-run target for an unlikely victory.
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Carey is seemingly at the peak of his powers after a six-month break from competitive cricket, creating a massive headache for national selectors ahead of the home summer.
Inglis, the incumbent white-ball wicketkeeper, sustained a quad injury during the T20 leg of the tour, with reserve gloveman Carey earning a recall for the ODIs. The South Australian was supposed to be keeping Inglis’ seat warm until he recovers, but now there’s uncertainty surrounding who the first-choice ODI gloveman should be ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
Following the white-ball tour of England, Australia only has three ODIs scheduled before the ICC event, leaving Inglis few opportunities to push his case for selection.
Highest ODI batting average among Australian wicketkeepers
35.68 — Adam Gilchrist
35.46 — Alex Carey
31.19 — Brad Haddin
28.54 — Tim Paine
28.25 — Josh Inglis
* Minimum 10 innings
Carey carries Aussies to ODI victory | 02:23
“It’s always a good problem to have when you’ve got people competing for spots within your team,” Australian coach Andrew McDonald told reporters after Tuesday’s rain-affected loss.
“Unfortunately, Josh was injured in the T20 series, and Alex has jumped into that spot and done incredibly well. So as I said, it’s always a good problem to have.”
McDonald floated the possibility of Carey and Inglis playing in the same ODI XI, which has previously happened on six occasions, but it remains an unlikely prospect when Australia’s at full strength.
“It’s always something we will consider,” McDonald continued.
“If you think back sort of 12 months ago, we had Ingo and Kez in the same team. So it’s quite possible, and the way that Alex is batting is very impressive. Summing up the situation, navigating going through the middle against spin.
“He’s a quality player. He’s played a lot of international cricket, so the way he’s performing isn’t a surprise to us.”
The fourth ODI between England and Australia gets underway at Lord’s on Friday, with the first ball scheduled for 9.30pm AEST.
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