Brisbane [Australia], January 26 (ANI): Giving his take on a bizarre on-field incident on Day 2 of the ongoing second Test with Australia at the Gabba, in which a bail remained unmoved even after being shaded by the ball; West Indies speedster Kemar Roach said a wicket at that juncture would have put the visitors firmly ahead in the match.
With Carey on 8, opening bowler Shamar Joseph beat his inside edge, with the ball touching the leg bail on its way to the wicketkeeper. Replays showed the bail briefly shifting in its groove. However, fortuitously for the batter, the bail wasn’t dislodged.
Channel 7 clocked the ball at 115kph when it passed Carey’s stumps.
After the close shave, Carey shifted gears and in the next 23 deliveries, he acknowledged the applause from the home crowd as he raised his bat after producing a fine, counter-attacking half-century.
“We only saw it on TV inside. No one knew. There was a noise, but everyone thought it was the pad. Sometimes you need some luck and it didn’t go for us today. Would have been a different game, I think, at 70 for 6,” Roach was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.
After showing rare steel and spine with the willow, the Caribbean speedsters breathed fire, reducing the hosts to 24 for 4 when the two teams headed for the dinner break.
They found themselves in the ascendancy making early inroads into the Aussie line-up by sending back the likes of Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green.
After Mitchell Marsh fell to a miscued shot after a counter-attacking cameo, Carey waged a counter-attack with Usman Khawaja after emerging unscathed from the freak on-field incident.
“I didn’t go out there with that [his scoring rate] in mind. I felt like I reacted pretty well to what was bowled at me and had good intent. Think we’ve seen that this summer with Mitch Marsh and Travis Head, they play that way. Would have been nice to get a few more but to be where we are after a difficult start, we are certainly in this game of cricket,” Carey said, weighing in on the incident.
West Indies still ended the day in a commanding position after Australia made a bold move to declare at the fall of the ninth wicket for a score of 289.
West Indies ended the day with a lead of 35, setting the stage for an intriguing Day 3.
Roach said he was hopeful his side pulling off a famous win.
“We knew that the wicket gets better after the new ball disappears so we knew it would be hard work and Australia bat deep. We haven’t won [in Australia] in a long time. We don’t really come here too often, but guys really want to come here and leave a mark. To win a Test match in Australia as a young side with a lot of debutants and guys who have played less than ten Tests, that would set a really good mark for us,” Roach said. (ANI)
