Carey dispels doubts with pressure-filled maiden ton

For pure theatre, it may not have matched the level of batting in a World Cup semi-final at a hostile, packed-out Edgbaston against the game’s best one-day team with bandages holding his split jaw together.

Yet Alex Carey, a year on and facing the same opposition at a fan-free Old Trafford, sized up arguably an even more pressure-laden moment on Wednesday.

Carey's outstanding campaign with the bat last year, the most prolific World Cup by a lower-order batter, that climaxed with his brave innings in a losing cause at Edgbaston was firmly in the rear-view mirror when Marnus Labuschagne was run out to leave Australia's chances in their ODI series decider hanging by a thread.

The 29-year-old had been relieved of vice-captaincy duties ahead of the tour before being dropped for the final match of the T20 series last week.

One-day cricket's greatest wicketkeeper-batter, Adam Gilchrist, put Carey's spot in the 50-over side under the microscope on the eve of the ODI series and heaped praise on emerging gloveman Josh Philippe, who AB de Villiers this week said he saw shades of his younger self in.

So when Glenn Maxwell joined him under lights with the visitors 5-73 chasing 303, Carey was facing the heat.

The left-hander responded with the most important innings of his career, helping the Aussies seal one of their most memorable ODI wins of recent times.

His maiden international century, 106 from 114 balls with seven fours and a pair of sixes, came in Australia's biggest sixth-wicket partnership ever (212) and helped end England's remarkable run of 13 unbeaten bilateral 50-over series victories.

It was just the second ODI century by an Australian wicketkeeper in a decade, and just the fifth since Gilchrist hit the last of his 16 hundreds.

Carey deferred the plaudits to his close friend and player-of-the-match Maxwell, who hit 108 off 90 balls including seven sixes in the three-wicket win.

“For Maxi to walk out and play the way he does just gave us a lot of confidence that the scoreboard wasn't getting out of control,” Carey told RSN radio. “The way he was playing (meant) I could just go about my business.

“I'm really close with Maxi off the field so to put that partnership together on the field was really fantastic.

“In ODI cricket, we've copped a bit of stick over the last couple of years. We haven’t played our best. It's a good step forward (but) we understand it's only a small step forward.

“But with the (2023) World Cup three years away, we'll take a lot of confidence moving forward.”

Jofra Archer had been the man who left Carey requiring stitches during that knockout World Cup game last year and the pair again locked horns in an intriguing duel.

The script could have been considerably different had Archer not overstepped for a no-ball when Carey, on nine, guided a short ball straight to Adil Rashid at third man.

The South Australian rubbed salt in the wound as he hit numerous boundaries off Archer through the third man region, playing the perfect complementary hand to the more aggressive Maxwell.

Adept at hitting square of the wicket, Carey stuck to his strengths with just eight of his runs coming between mid-on and mid-off.

Image Id: 9E9BB4BF12AD4F03B8BB8BA097398422 Image Caption: Carey's wagon wheel // Opta

"Batting with Alex Carey out there, seeing him get his first ODI hundred is pretty special," said Maxwell. "Knowing how hard he's worked, he's such a great person and one of the great guys to be around.

"I see him every day and we always have a laugh together but to see him get the rewards at the other end was extremely special and to top it off, to beat the No.1 team on their own soil was even more special.

"He probably had a little bit more thrown at him than I was … they were attacking him a little bit more. (England) didn’t really give him much to score on the short boundary and he had to work harder for his runs.

"The way he got through every challenge that he faced, he was able to do it calmly and with a great temperament the whole time."

2020 Tour of England

Australia's T20 and ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood. Reserves: Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. Reserves: Joe Denly, Saqib Mahmood

First T20: England won by two runs

Second T20: England won by six wickets with seven balls to spare

Third T20: Australia won by five wickets with three balls to spare

First ODI: Australia won by 19 runs

Second ODI: England won by 24 runs

September 16: Australia won by three wickets