Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey has defended Pat Cummins over Jonny Bairstow stumping admission

Alex Carey says he has no regrets over how the polarising dismissal of Jonny Bairstow was handled by Australia and denies the fall out impacted his form.

Alex Carey shares no hard feelings against Pat Cummins for not instantly declaring that he had ordered the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow.

“I still had to be the one to throw the stumps down and be OK with that, and I absolutely was,” declared Carey in an interview to promote the series three of The Test which premieres this Friday.

The biggest revelation in the latest Prime Video documentary is an admission from Cummins that he had directed Carey to have a throw at Bairstow’s stumps the ball prior to the moment which rocked world cricket at Lord’s.

Carey’s teammates led by Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith express in The Test the concern they held for his mental wellbeing after being fingered as public enemy No.1 for executing one of the Ashes’ greatest ever controversies.

Alex Carey throws the ball towards the stumps to stump Jonny Bairstow. Picture: Getty Images

However, the wicketkeeper does not believe the spotlight on him would have been any less fierce even if it was made clear at the time that Carey had simply been following directions from his captain.

“I don’t think so. I think Patty was copping it a fair bit as well, because at the end of the day it’s up to the captain whether he wants to recall someone,” Carey told this masthead on Tuesday.

“But that never crossed any of our minds. I’m pretty sure Broady (England’s Stuart Broad) was getting stuck into Patty just as much as me.

“… I don’t think it would change anything. I don’t think it needed to change anything anyway.

”… It is a very caring group of people in this cricket team so like I said, I think everyone has everyone’s back.”

Jonny Bairstow is stumped by Alex Carey in one of the great controversial Ashes dismissals. Picture: Getty Images

Carey emphasised it was not just Cummins’ who had noticed Bairstow’s habit of habitually wandering out of his crease – but other players as well – and thanked his skipper, coach and teammates for having his back during the most challenging week of his career.

According to Carey, it’s been underplayed what a smart piece of tactical ingenuity and execution it was from all involved.

“Look, we wouldn’t change anything. Like we said, (Patty said), and I said it before as well, there’s a number of guys who recognised what was happening and I guess the movements from Jonny after he left a ball,” Carey said.

“There was enough guys around the bat to pick up on that and I just think it’s great tactical awareness from the captain.

“We knew what Greeny (Cameron Green) was going to bowl, it was going to be short and I knew I would probably get the ball as well, so to throw it straight away.

“I think the tactical awareness from this group has been really strong for a number of years now under Patty’s leadership.

“I wouldn’t say it was premeditated but having the ability from the guys out in the middle to pick up on it in contest and I guess pick up on that advantage and the opportunity to get a wicket was something I think has been under-recognised how sharp it was from the group to pick up on that tactical awareness.”

Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey became public enemy No.1 in the UK. Picture: Getty Images

Carey insists he would have been comfortable taking a shot at the stumps even if the captain hadn’t told him to do so.

“Yeah, if I saw it for as long as we did, absolutely. I think it just snowballed into us all picking up on it enough,” Carey said.

“Patty having the awareness to sing out and say it, Greeny to bowl what he bowled and for me to pick it up cleanly and throw straight away and be accurate.

“It all sort of was a great play in the end.”

Carey and his family became the target of death threats in the wake of the drama and the keeper – who had been one of the players of the series to that point – faded out of the series after Lord’s.

Alex Carey said the extra attention didn’t contribute to his dip of form. Picture: Getty Images

However, despite the concerns aired by Smith and Khawaja in the documentary, Carey wants to make it abundantly clear that in his mind, the Bairstow incident had no bearing on a dip in form that continued through to the point he was dropped from Australia’s World Cup team later in the year.

“No, not at all and that’s probably the thing. People are able to have their say on why maybe my form shifted away from being at its best,” Carey said.

“For me, and the people around me (know) I wasn’t affected by it after a few days.

“It was probably just copping a lot online, putting that aside, knowing you wouldn’t change anything, that you can’t control what people’s opinions are and what they say in the crowd and the banter that comes with it as well.

“In the public, nothing negative has ever come my way.

“I saw certain things that people were trying to pin two and two together that my form had changed because of that dismissal, but no, unfortunately, cricket just ebbs and flows at times.”

Originally published as Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey has defended Pat Cummins over Jonny Bairstow stumping admission