The Ashes: Alex Carey Australia’s silent assassin against England as he joins rare wicketkeeping club

Australia’s silent assassin is being celebrated for an Ashes series that rivals some of the best wicketkeepers ever to hold the hopes of the nation in their gloves.

While Mitchell Starc and Travis Head stole the show across a 4-1 series win over England, Alex Carey’s work behind the stumps, as well as his important knocks in front of them, put him on the podium of performances this summer.

Carey was fittingly at the crease on Thursday to hit the winning runs as Australia put the cherry on another Ashes victory at the SCG, that final unbeaten knock taking him to 323 runs for the series at 46.14.

That tally, and his remarkable 28 dismissals, put him in elite company, joining Adam Gilchrist as only the second wicketkeeper-batter to amass 300 or more runs and 25-plus dismissals within a single series.

He was only one dismissal behind Brad Haddin’s all-time Ashes record of 29 from 2013, claiming 28 dismissals with 27 catches and a stumping.

Perhaps the most impressive part of those numbers was how many came standing up to the stumps to Scott Boland and Michael Neser while they clocked speeds in excess of 130km/h.

It all but stifled England’s promise to come at Boland, unravelling Bazball on-field without a word as they unravelled themselves off it.

Stand-in skipper Steve Smith praised Carey after play on day five in Sydney, suggesting his keeping throughout the campaign was the best he’d ever witnessed.

“To be able to go up to the stumps to guys bowling late 130s (kph) and barely drop a ball, both offside and leg side, it was incredible,” Smith said.

“Against this opposition, it was more about just keeping the pressure on them. They like to get out at those guys and try and take lbw out of play.

“For him to be able to get up to the stumps as much as he did, and keep them back in their crease, it created a load of chances for us. I have not seen a keeping performance like that. It was honestly incredible.”

Leading into the series, Carey brushed off suggestions the lingering bitterness over his stumping of Jonny Bairstow in England in 2023 would play a part on home soil.

And while the English were bemused at the glovework of Jamie Smith, Carey’s clinical hands ended any lingering murmurs of the controversy.

The man himself, who also posted his first Ashes century during his home Test at Adelaide Oval, did everything he could to deflect from his series-defining achievements.

“There were opportunities to come up to the stumps, it wasn’t a preconceived idea coming into the series,” he said on Thursday.

“Whoever got a run did a fantastic job with the ball this summer.”

Fortunately, many of Australia’s past greats summed up his series with less humility.

Gilchrist described the 34-year-old’s Adelaide century as one for the “ages” before labelling his glovework “sublime”.

“It’s been a fine year for Alex. I think we all agree his value to the Australian team has been increasing almost Test match by Test match,” he said on commentary.

“I always had this feeling that he was just going to break through eventually with purely batting form and maintain his spot as a batter, but his keeping is just sublime at the minute.

“I think it is how work ethic and just his desire to improve and do all the little, minor things at training, that is what has seen his performance get elevated. He has been feeling good with the bat and the gloves all year ... and he is such a reliable cricketer.”

Haddin also praised Carey throughout the Ashes.

“You’ll never see a better keeping display or a braver keeping display than this,” Haddin said on Triple M.

Former gloveman Ian Healy said: “We have to go all the way back to Don Tallon for this sort of keeping performance.”

Tallon is considered one of the best keepers of his generation, described as a “surgeon” behind the stumps playing Test cricket for Australia after World War II.

RARE AIR (300 runs and 25 dismissals club)

Adam Gilchrist

2001 (England): 340 @ 68.00, one century, two half centuries and 26 dismissals.

2002/03 (Australia): 333 runs @ 55.50, one century, two half centuries and 25 dismissals.

Alex Carey

2025/26 (Australia): 323 runs @ 46.14, one century, two half centuries and 28 dismissals.