Australia will return to Lord’s on Friday for the first time since last year’s Ashes row, with captain Mitchell Marsh confident a controversial incident involving wicketkeeper Alex Carey is firmly in the past. Carey’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow, when the England batsman walked out of his ground thinking the ball was dead, led to angry exchanges between the teams. And there were also ugly scenes in the Lord’s Pavilion too as spectators clashed with Australian players. Carey’s form fell away in the final three Tests of what became a drawn series but the 33-year-old has been a thorn in England’s side during the ongoing ODI campaign, making a match-winning 74 at Headingley on Saturday and an unbeaten 77 in defeat at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday. Victory at Lord’s would mean 50-over world champions Australia take an unassailable 3-1 lead in a five-match series, with Marsh adamant the tourists have drawn a line under last year’s flare-up. “We’ve really moved on from that,” the skipper told a pre-match press conference on Thursday. “These things happen in Ashes Test matches, there’s not a series that goes by that doesn’t have some sort of drama.”

“Alex loves playing in England, we all do. The fans are always incredible and it’s always a tough challenge playing against England. I think he’s just rapt to be back here, playing for Australia.” Mitchell Marsh was asked if last year’s incident had given Carey additional motivation, he replied: “I don’t think that’s in his character.” Such has been Carey’s form with bat and gloves, he could well keep his place for the fourth ODI even though World Cup-winning wicketkeeper Josh Inglis is now fit again after injury. Australia are likely to be at full strength following a tour beset by illness, which ruled out leg-spinner Adam Zampa at Durham in a match where in-form opener Travis Head was rested following soreness. Both key players are set to return at Lord’s, with Marsh saying: “It would be massive (to have them back). We obviously know the last couple of years they’ve both had and just what they bring to our team from an experience point of view.”

Credit: Independent News Pakistan