Australia's Alex Carey Emulates Adam Gilchrist, Achieves Massive Feat In 4-1 Ashes Victory
It was a memorable Ashes series for Alex Carey, both with the bat and wicketkeeping gloves as he joined legendary Adam Gilchrist in an exclusive list.
It was a memorable Ashes series for Alex Carey, both with the bat and wicketkeeping gloves as he joined legendary Adam Gilchrist to be the second wicketkeeper-batter with 300-plus runs and 25-plus dismissals within a single series. Carey, who was excellent behind the stumps against pace and spin alike, had a series to remember, as he got plenty of nicks landing into his hands, scored his first Ashes ton at Adelaide, a series-sealing one and also had the privilege of hitting the winning runs, a boundary against Will Jacks to chase 160 successfully for Australia and win the series 4-1, handing 'Bazball' another massive failure despite its hype and pomp.
Carey ended the series as the batter with fourth-highest runs. He scored 323 runs in five matches and eight innings at an average of 46.14 and a brisk strike rate of over 72, with a century and two fifties to his name and best score of 106. He also had 28 dismissals to his name, including 27 catches and a stumping.
Earlier, Adam Gilchrist had achieved this double of 300-plus runs and 25-plus dismissals in a Test series, that too twice, first during the Ashes 2001 away from home (340 runs in five Tests at an average of 68.00, with a century and two fifties and 26 dismissals) and during the 2002/03 Ashes at home (333 runs at an average of over 55, with a century and two fifties and 25 dismissals).
Carey also now holds the record for second-most dismissals by a wicketkeeper during a Test series. He was just two short of overtaking ex-Aussie keeper Brad Haddin (29 dismissals), which he had pulled off during the 2013 Ashes.
Skipper Steve Smith hailed Carey's "masterclass" in wicketkeeping throughout the series.
"To be able to go up to the stumps to guys bowling late 130s (kph) and barely drop a ball, both offside and leg side. It was incredible. Against this opposition, it was more about just keeping the pressure on them. They like to get out at those guys and try and take lbw out of play," said Smith during the post-match presser.
"For him to be able to get up to the stumps as much as he did, and keep them back in their crease, it created a load of chances for us. I have not seen a keeping performance like that. It was honestly incredible," he added.
Coming to the final match of the series, England won the toss and opted to bat first, putting 384 runs on the board with fantastic knocks from Joe Root (160) and Harry Brook. However, English bowlers let the momentum go to waste as Travis Head (163) and Steve Smith (138) cracked bumper tons while Beau Webster also chipped in 71 useful runs to take them to 567 runs, giving them a 183-run lead. Josh Tongue and Brydon Carse took three wickets each for England.
In the second innings, England put up a respectable total, courtesy a masterclass century from all-rounder Jacob Bethell, who hit his first Test match ton, a 265-ball 142. England were bowled out for 342 runs, with Mitchell Starc and Webster getting three wickets and Scott Boland getting two. England set Australia 160 runs to win, having gained a 159-run lead.
England did put up a fight, reducing Australia to 121/5, but the target was not enough as Alex Carey (16*) and Cameron Green (22*) took Australia home.
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Australia Cricket Team
Alex Carey