A Carey Package

PL is captivated by Alex Carey on an uneven first day in Adelaide

Australia 8-326, (Starc 33no and Lyon 0no. Carey 106, Khawaja 82)

If Alex Carey didn’t exist, a company like Sanitarium would have to invent him. The wicket keeper is wholesale wholesomeness. A well of wellbeing. A player who believes cricket should not only look good, it should be good for you. He’s got a face that would make flowers bloom, a smile like the first sunny day of spring.

On top of that, he’s one talented mother.

Fresh from a performance behind the stumps in Brisbane that is still drawing praise, Carey comforted Australia with a century that saw his capacity home crowd rise to its feet and erupt in a sort of pagan worship chant: Care-ey, Care-ey, Care-ey.

It was a wonderful moment, one that echoed the reception Travis Head had received when he’d peeled off a tryptich of tonnes here in seasons past.

Who’d deny Alex Carey this after all he’d suffered at the hands of England fans in 2023?

Carey’s third Test century saved Australia from blushes on the first day.

Thomas Miles’ representation of Carey’s innings

Never judge a wicket until both sides have batted on it, but on evidence of just one side’s attempt to construct a total at Adelaide, it behoves me to suggest that Australia is short of where they should be. Curator Damien Hough said he’d be happy with 300 runs and 10 wickets a day in this Test match. Well, Australia scored 326 and lost 8 wickets but there’s a nagging feeling that they’ve thrown away the opportunity to score many more.

England had moments. Archer struck early (Jake Weatherald 18) for just his fourth wicket of the series, then doubled down after lunch to remove Marnus Labuschagne (19) and Cam Green (0). Brydon Carse was erratic, but got a couple, Josh Tongue wasn’t awful and Will Jacks somehow got a couple of scalps.

Not so long ago, anything less than a 500 batting first at Adelaide was a fail, but times and pitches and balls and batters have changed.