Australia looked rattled early, but Alex Carey had other plans. The wicketkeeper-batter stitched a gutsy 63 on Day 1 of the second Test against the West Indies at the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s, Grenada, steering Australia out of deep trouble after a shaky start.
The Aussies were reeling at 110/5 when Carey walked in. It wasn’t pretty, and it didn’t need to be. What mattered was he stood firm and put on a 112-run stand with Beau Webster that gave Australia the breathing room it desperately needed.
Carey Walks in Under Pressure — and Delivers
The scoreboard read 110 for five. Not exactly comforting.
Carey walked out into a pressure cooker of a situation, the Windies bowlers firing on all cylinders, with the Grenadian crowd fully behind them.
At first, Carey looked tentative. He had to be. The surface offered bounce and occasional movement. But he dug in. He let the ball come to him, picked the gaps, and soaked up the heat like a seasoned campaigner.
Then came the turning point — a dropped catch by West Indies keeper Shai Hope when Carey was on 46. A gift, frankly.
But Carey didn’t waste it.
He got to his fifty before the tea break. Calm, composed, and a little bit lucky. Still, that’s Test cricket.
Dismissal: One Mistake Too Many
Carey fell for 63 in the final session, attempting a pull shot to a Justin Greaves delivery that angled across him.
It wasn’t a great shot.
Greaves delivered a back-of-a-length ball. Carey tried to take it on, but the timing deserted him. The ball ballooned off the bat straight to Kraigg Brathwaite at mid-wicket.
Simple catch. Big blow.
Still, Carey had done his job.
Carey’s Record Against the West Indies Grows
Stat lovers would’ve enjoyed this one.
Carey’s 63 came off 81 balls. Fast. Clean. Entertaining. He cracked 10 fours and a six.
This was his third fifty against the Windies, and he now has 267 runs in 6 Tests against them, averaging 38.14.
Across his career, Carey has:
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1,959 runs in 42 Tests
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Batting average: 35.61
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11 fifties and 2 centuries
That puts him right on track to hit 2,000 Test runs soon — no small feat for a keeper-batter.
The Away Numbers Look Even Better
Carey’s numbers outside Australia continue to impress.
In away Tests, where conditions are unfamiliar and less forgiving, he’s been steady.
Here’s a quick snapshot of Carey’s away Test stats:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Matches | 20 |
| Runs | 987 |
| Average | 36.55 |
| 50s | 6 |
| 100s | 1 |
With just 13 runs to go, Carey is on the verge of reaching 1,000 away Test runs. In this series alone, he’s racked up 136 runs at an average of 45.33, including two fifties from three innings.
Just quietly — that’s top-tier performance.
First-Class Legacy Grows Quietly
Carey’s effort in Grenada didn’t just help Australia — it also added another notch in his First-Class belt.
This was his 30th FC fifty. Add that to his 11 hundreds, and the 98-match veteran is nearing some serious milestones.
His First-Class tally?
Sometimes numbers do tell the story.
A Quick Recap of the Day
The day belonged to Carey and Webster.
While Australia stumbled early, losing five wickets in a hurry, Carey’s knock gave them a platform. The 112-run partnership for the sixth wicket steadied the innings and frustrated the hosts.
A few takeaways:
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Carey entered at 110/5 and added 63 crucial runs
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Was dropped on 46, made the most of it
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Shared a match-defining stand with Webster
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Fell to Greaves trying to pull a short one
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Took his away Test tally to 987 runs
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Marked his 30th fifty in FC cricket
That drop by Hope? It’ll sting a little more now.
