06 July 2023 , 15:01
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Alex Carey was booed by thousands of angry England fans as he made his way out to bat at Headingley in Leeds on Thursday.
The Australia wicketkeeper was the pantomime villain in the second Ashes Test at Lord's after he stumped Leeds lad Jonny Bairstow by throwing the ball at the sticks while standing back. Bairstow was only out of his crease because he assumed the ball was dead.
While Carey's stumping was legal, many fans believe it was not in the spirit of cricket. Carey would've been expecting a rough reception in the third Ashes Test at Headingley... and the England supporters didn't let him down by booing ferociously.
Carey came out to bat after Australia recovered from a collapse. David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith were dismissed early to leave the visitors on 85-4 before Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh put on a priceless partnership. Carey was eventually called upon when Marsh was dismissed by Chris Woakes. Chants of "stand up if you hate Carey" were also head at the ground.
Thursday's boos came as no surprise after what happened at Lord's. Ben Stokes said on Wednesday: "They [the locals] might be a little more ramped up, for some reason. The atmosphere when it gets going, especially towards the end of the day, is something else.
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"Even when things aren’t going our way, they’re still going wild. It’s just an amazing atmosphere at Headingley. Who knows if Jonny will use that incident as some kind of inspiration? But we’ve seen in the past that Jonny manages to do something after he’s criticised."
Alex Carey, pictured at Lord's in the second Test, was booed by England fans at Headingley on Thursday (AFP via Getty Images)Ex-England skipper Phil Tufnell predicted a frosty reception for Carey after the first over. He said: "There's a low rumble out there, you can just feel it. Alex Carey will probably get quite a reception when he comes out."
The first boos of the day came during the toss when Australia captain Pat Cummins was jeered at. Although Carey stumped Bairstow, it was Cummins' decision to uphold his team's appeal. The Aussie skipper insisted the dismissal was "fair play" at the time.
Cummins was asked about the boos after the toss. He said: "I wouldn't expect anything less up here. It was a great game in 2019, the last first two Tests have been pretty good so hopefully another one here."
Stokes praised the Headingley crowd after winning the toss and sending Australia into bat. He said: "It's an amazing place to play cricket. We know that the Western Terrace get behind us. We love playing cricket here."
Australia openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja were also booed when they walked out to bat, something the former is used to in England. "Headingly is certainly fired up and we knew it would be," said BBC commentator Jonathan Agnew.
England need to win all three remaining Tests at Headingley, Old Trafford and The Oval to regain the Ashes after Australia's wins at Edgbaston and Lord's. England haven't regained the Ashes since 2015, while Australia haven't won a series in England since 2001.