Ashes 2023: Alex Carey on the ‘Jonny Bairstow curse’, World Cup woes and hitting top form again

It seems the simplest way to pinpoint Alex Carey’s loss of form: the curse of the Jonny Bairstow runout. But the Test keeper says there’s one thing people don’t know about the incident.

Alex Carey didn’t even need to be asked directly.

He knows the perception and understands why people jump to the conclusion.

It’s just that according to Australia’s Test wicketkeeper, the most obvious answer isn’t the right one.

The prevailing narrative was straightforward. Carey – who had started his tour of England strongly – couldn’t handle the fallout of the Jonny Bairstow stumping, precipitating a marked decline in form across formats that culminated with his axing from Australia’s one-day side just one match into the World Cup.

Cause and effect. Some less sporting English may have framed it as finding out after effing around.

F around, find out? Alex Carey understands why people think his loss of form relates to the Jonny Bairstow dismissal. Picture: Channel 9

Yet since returning to Australia from the World Cup, the gloveman has averaged 36.92 across domestic and international formats, passing 30 in eight of 13 innings including 49 and 90 in a low-scoring Sheffield Shield match for South Australia against Queensland.

Carey’s average across his previous 13 digs dating back to the Bairstow stumping was 16.77, even including 99 in a one-dayer at Centurion.

So, what’s changed?

“I think that’s just the game isn’t it?” Carey tells this masthead in the lead-up to this week’s first Test against New Zealand in Wellington.

“And I didn’t feel like I changed a lot through the Ashes either. I got some good balls over there in England, some different ways of getting out and then one-day cricket as well probably over in South Africa and in India was I think just one of those things, you just get out different ways. And probably at the wrong time to lose a bit of form…losing the spot.

“But nothing really has changed for me. And that’s where I guess it’s easy for outside viewers to make comparisons of when the Bairstow stumping happened to what sort of followed for a couple of months.

“It’s just one of those things in the game, I think it just sort of coincided without it being on my mind at all.”

Carey spent most of Australia’s World Cup campaign on the sidelines. Picture: Getty

While Australia’s loss to the West Indies at the Gabba was a shock, it also marked Carey’s most impressive Test performance with the bat since early in the Ashes tour, if not early. Arriving at the crease with Australia 5-54 in its first innings, Carey fearlessly blasted 65 from 49 balls – albeit with a touch of luck via a non-dislodgement – to drive the Aussies towards parity.

It was a genuine momentum-shifter, and a blueprint for the No.7 to follow. But it was always largely the plan, he says.

“So no, I don’t think I had to change too much. It was just continue to be positive. I think I got an 80 leading into the summer against Victoria in the Shield game so that was a nice way to start the summer back in Australia,” Carey said.

“I felt like I played some good innings through the summer without a bigger score but some good 30s and 50s. And I think this year we probably saw the wickets potentially favoured the bowlers a little bit more.

“I felt like there was some solid contributions through the summer and then again in the Shield game so we’ll see (in) New Zealand what the wickets look like. But yeah, I think for me it’s just continue to be positive, show good intent and play I guess what’s in front of me. Against the West Indies (in Brisbane), five down past 60. It was sort of, if I go out there and sort of try to survive it looked like it was pretty tough work.”

Alex Carey has made a successful return to form with the Redbacks this summer. Picture: Getty

It is almost eight months on from Lord’s and all that followed, including abuse directed towards Carey and his family at the time was bad enough for him to deactivate Instagram for a week.

Watching edits of the newest edition of The Test documentary series, which delves deeply into the events of day five of the second Ashes rubber, Carey appreciated the magnitude of the aftershocks.

“I probably didn’t really realise how much the media made it out over in England, I didn’t follow the media over there. Like I just had stuff to do. So I didn’t read the papers or see any TV interviews. I knew it was spoken about. But seeing I guess how much.

“People getting really riled up about it over there, and then you come back to Australia, and everyone loves it. So you play the game. You play what’s in front of you.

“I find it, I guess a little bit amusing. And it’s a great story, because it’s, it’s gonna be around for quite a while, be spoken about.”

Alex Carey’s efforts helped secure the Ashes – but it won’t be how his series will be remembered. Picture: Getty

He had no issue when England wicketkeeper Ben Foakes held the ball and waited for Indian tailender Jasprit Bumrah to stray in what proved a foiled stumping attempt in the dying stages of the first Test in Hyderabad last month.

“If the batter’s foot is in the air or out of his crease and the ball is live, then I don’t see why we make such a big deal out of it,” Carey said.

“Everyone has a different view on the spirit of cricket. You know, however you’re brought up and whatever team you’re brought up in, you will have different opinions. As a sportsman, you’re always trying to gain competitive advantage over your opposition, if you see something to gain that advantage.”

Carey could be back in England later this year. While he will take time off with wife Eloise and children Louis and Clementine after the NZ Tests, Carey is eyeing a stint in the American Major League Cricket mid-year as he seeks to revitalise his white-ball career.

With white-ball tours of Ireland and England to come before the next Australian season, Carey has been told by Aussie selectors that he remains in the mix in the build-up to next year’s Champions Trophy, even if Josh Inglis has established himself as the clear No. 1 in the format for the time being.

“Some white ball cricket in some different leagues, it’d be good to keep that up. I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket over the last two or three years. So hopefully, you know, to pick up a gif overseas and continue to play T20 cricket. I feel like it’s a strong format of mine still and really enjoy playing (it).”

Originally published as Ashes 2023: Alex Carey on the ‘Jonny Bairstow curse’, World Cup woes and hitting top form again