‘Big-time’ Carey gives Shield decider its shine

Two Sheffield Shield finals, two centuries.

Alex Carey has come up trumps in the last match of a busy summer for a second straight year. Not only does he now desperately hope his ton will lead his state to their biggest prize once again, Carey also expressed his wish for the annual match to retain its shine in cricket’s modern era.

The Test gloveman has near singlehandedly kept alive South Australia’s hopes of their first ever back-to-back Shield crowns with a fighting 103, the highest score of this bowler-dominated match.

That the hosts had wobbled to 5-102 at stumps chasing 196 only underscored how difficult run-scoring has been on a spicy Junction Oval surface.

Carey’s 14th first-class hundred has come at the end of an Australian season in which only Marnus Labuschagne has seen more action. This contest marks Carey’s 12th first-class game of the summer (five Tests against England, seven Shield games for SA) – Labuschagne played 13 by virtue of featuring in one more Shield match for Queensland.

The appeal of the Shield final might have dimmed somewhat given the migration of many of Australia’s best players to the Indian Premier League at this time of year. Travis Head, who would otherwise be playing for SA this week, instead featured in the IPL opener in Bengaluru last night.

Carey has admitted to feeling some fatigue after the intensity of this summer’s Ashes series. After this game, he is set for an extended break before Australia’s next Test assignment in August.

But the lure of domestic success has been an elixir to any late-season tiredness.

“I can’t speak highly enough of Shield finals,” Carey told reporters. “They’re great contests between states. I was fortunate enough to win one last year, and it meant a lot to myself, but also to the state.

“I can really feel the contest. I can feel the want from both teams. The IPL started last night, so it’s hard to compete at times with those franchises.

“But speaking for myself, every opportunity I get to play for South Australia, I want to do that. I want to win another Shield.

“I’ve got a lot of pride for these colours. When you’re a junior, you want to represent your state, and if you’re lucky enough you go on and represent your country. That’s not lost on me.”

Against Queensland last year, Carey put the finishing touches on a drought-breaking title with a brisk 105 in a tense chase to see South Australians swamp Karen Rolton Oval.

If SA triumph on Monday, the reaction is sure to be different.

So too did this latest knock necessitate a different set of skills.

SA had been staring down the barrel at 5-79 on Saturday evening, with Carey fighting to 24no by stumps. When play resumed, he had the accomplished Liam Scott for company and he could play the game on his terms despite his side’s precarious position.

In the third over of day four, he charged Fergus O’Neill and plastered him back down the ground. After surviving a French cut off Boland, he seared a cover drive on the up off his Test teammate.

It was Boland who altered the dynamic. With Scott and Ben Manenti knocked over in consecutive deliveries, Victoria were able to set the field back to Carey, granting him singles while cutting off his supply of boundaries.

After finding the fence three times in seven balls inside the first 15 minutes of the day to race to 40 from 53, Carey then only hit three more boundaries (two fours and a six) from the last 115 balls he faced in his five-and-a-half-hour innings.

“He’s outstanding,” Victoria coach and former Test opener Chris Rogers said. “I think there’s lessons there for a lot of batters.

“Just how he covers the ball that moves away from him. I think we see a lot of batters who kind of cut inside the ball, and he was able to smother the movement away.

“It’s something I think a lot of us can learn from. He played beautifully … A number of our younger players, especially left handers, are watching how Carey goes about playing Boland. That’s invaluable.

“He controlled the innings, he had faith in his partners. What more would you want from your star player? He’s a big-time player, and he stood up.”

As Rogers pointed out, Carey put on a masterclass in situation management.

The normally free-wheeling leftie patiently went 33 overs scoring only ones and twos, putting faith in Nathan McAndrew by giving him the strike early in overs.

He was rewarded by the No.9 staunchly locking in to make 60 from 144 balls, the pair combining for the biggest partnership (105 runs) of the match.

Carey was 83 when McAndrew went out, then 92 when the ninth wicket fell. After he hit a four to get to 97, he took three singles in as many overs to get to triple figures, the last an error of judgment thinking he would get back for a second.

His 10th Sheffield Shield hundred was surely accompanied by his most sheepish celebration; frustrated not to be back on strike, he saluted the Junction Oval crowd rueing that he was not down the other end.

“A bit of a fake two, you reckon?” he later said to laughter, the joke being that he had prioritised his individual milestone over the team’s cause.

The sight of his teammates applauding him off the ground at stumps on Sunday would suggest nothing could be further from the truth.

Sheffield Shield final 2025-26

March 26-30: Victoria v South Australia, Junction Oval, Melbourne

The Sheffield Shield final will be broadcast live on cricket.com.au, the CA Live app, Foxtel and Kayo Sports