I would do it again! Alex Carey has revealed he has no regrets over his controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s and the Australian wicket-keeper has warned England he will not hesitate to use the tactic again in this Ashes series.
Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey has no regrets over Jonny Bairstow’s controversial stumping and insists he would not hesitate to repeat the dismissal in the series.
Speaking for the first time since Bairstow’s controversial dismissal in the fourth innings of the second Test at Lord’s, Kerry revealed how he planned to dismiss the Yorkshireman.
The incident made Carey public enemy No 1 in England, with the Aussie wicket-keeper facing abuse from fans since the Lord’s stumping when senior figures in the game accused him of violating the spirit of cricket.
But the 31-year-old is adamant there was no manipulation involved in Bairstow’s dismissal.
“We switched on to the fact that it was a bouncer plan and it seemed like Johnny switched on pretty well to get out of the way, he wasn’t playing any shots,” he told reporters on Saturday.
Alex Carey has no regrets over Jonny Bairstow’s controversial stumping at Lord’s
The England batsman was stumped in the fourth innings when Carey spotted him walking down the crease and turned the ball onto the stumps.
‘When he ducks, his first movement is outside his crease. So instinctively I caught the ball, threw the stumps and the rest is history.
‘As soon as I got it I threw it away. Once the bail is off, it is up to the third umpire or on-field umpires to call it out or not out.
‘It’s been a bit surprising how it’s played out.’
Kerry was unequivocal when asked if he would do it again despite the pushback from England fans and players.
He said, ‘If there was an opportunity to do stumping, I would definitely do it.’
The Aussie wicket-keeper revealed that he learned to stay at the crease early in his career when he made his Adelaide A-grade debut and batted after being stumped.
He blamed himself for the dismissal, a position echoed by Australian captain Pat Cummins over the past fortnight for any batsman dismissed in this manner.
Carey said he had tried unsuccessfully as a wicketkeeper in the past, but had never before been accused of unsportsmanlike conduct.
Kerry (second left) and Pat Cummins (third left) became public enemy No. 1 in England
Cummins insisted Kerry had nothing to apologize for following the incident at Lord’s
“My first A-grade game in South Australia, I was out like that,” Carey said.
‘And when I left, I was quite disappointed. The captain came up to me, said, ‘next time remember to step behind the line’.
‘From my point of view, I was not called to the spirit of cricket when I tried to do it earlier.
‘And when I was put out in the same manner, I didn’t even question it.’
Carrillo has confirmed he has apologized to Sir Alastair Cook, after the former England captain spread a false rumor that the Aussie star failed to pay for a haircut in Leeds last week.