Alex Carey, the Australian wicketkeeper, said he wouldn’t think twice about repeating his controversial stumping of England’s Jonny Bairstow if a similar chance came up in the last two Tests of the current Ashes series.
Carey caused a “Spirit of Cricket” row that involved the prime leaders of both countries when he stumped Bairstow in the second Test at Lord’s last month. Bairstow had been given a penalty for moving out of his position, which caused Carey to take Bairstow out of the game.
Australia went on to win by 43 runs, giving them a 2-1 lead in the five-Test series going into the fourth match at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
When asked if he would repeat a move that got Australia’s players yelled at in the pavilion at the end of the session, Carey said, “Yes, if there was a chance to get a stumping.”
“People have said some mean things, but it’s the Ashes. Before that, people had already said some bad things.
“I feel very supported, and I think the rest of the group does as well. I still think we have a lot of friends in Australia, and I don’t think we made any new ones in England, but we probably didn’t lose any either.”
The incident led to a public argument between the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his British colleague Rishi Sunak. Carey thought it was “a little bit surprising” how the situation had gotten so bad.
“We knew it was a bouncer plan, and it seemed like Jonny was pretty focused on getting out of the way; he wasn’t playing any shots,” Carey said about the situation.
“When he ducked, his first move was pretty much out of his stance, so I automatically grabbed the ball, put down the stumps, and the rest is history.
“He’s a great player, and in that game with Ben Stokes, he was a big catch.
“Once the bail is off, it’s up to the third umpire or the on-field umpires to decide if it’s out or not, and it was ruled out.”